


Will You Be My Savior?

by HypersomniacGrad



Series: Adventures of Supergirl and her Superfriends [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Human/alien experimentation, Project 13/Experiment 13, Project 14, Romance and stuff, Sanvers - Freeform, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Some hard emotional beats, SuperCorp, action and adventure, aka Supergirl Season 2.5?, mentions of the Bat-family, past maggie/kate relationship, special guest appearance from Arrowverse peeps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-08-31 20:31:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 320,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8592433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HypersomniacGrad/pseuds/HypersomniacGrad
Summary: Kara Danvers finds herself in the middle of the mess between her cousin and his nemesis - an unsolved mystery regarding the last project Lex started - and the rising threat that is Cadmus. With the help of her sister, Alex, and their friends, Kara launches into figuring out what it all means, with lines between friend and foe blurring, multiverse shenanigans, endless Cadmus monstrosities, and matters of the heart complicating things along the way too.No one ever said being a superhero was easy after all.





	1. Just A Typical Day at National City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! I've only been writing fics for about a year/year and a half now and this is my first time writing a Supergirl fic, it's not perfect but I just… I love Alex so much! And I love Sanvers! And I know the likelihood of SuperCorp being canon is very slim but I just love them too (a little too much at times…)! I have too many feels for the series and I'm trying to get them all out now. I may also be playing loose canon here with my rudimentary knowledge of comics…
> 
> The fic follows canon until 2x06 (minus the whole Mon-El gets kidnapped thing), I might incorporate bits and pieces of what's canon with the coming episodes if things flow well.
> 
> Sorry for the long notes. Hope you guys enjoy the ride!

Snapper was on fire that morning. Kara surprisingly got to work half an hour earlier than usual, despite having to hold a brokenhearted Alex all through the night, only to be surprised that he was already yelling orders on the most essential stories of the day. While her focus was a little bit everywhere at the moment – Kara was still mostly worried about Alex who insisted that she will be fine, she will go to work, and that Kara should too and that she loves her very much – the Kryptonian did her best to remain vigilant with the exchanges going on, ideas bouncing off of each other. Again, particularly about the main topics of the day, articles they need to write before they get scooped. Stories that essentially broke down to three key topics.

Number one was who on earth was the new vigilante. Kara remembered that he called himself 'Guardian'. She brought it up when Snapper asked what they would even call him, claiming that she heard it from someone earlier. Her new boss was about to shut down the idea when James decided to cut in and approve of it.

Number two was of course about 'Parasite', the new freak of the week that terrorized National City the night before. No surprise there really. Snapper already assigned pieces on learning more about Dr. Jones and the research facility he worked with, Thorul.

And number three, how was this all connected to the Luthors? Kara thought that this was getting ridiculous. Every time some weird thing happens in the city people start whispering the name. Was it Lex? Was it him behind the monstrosity? Does he have a hand in this someway, somehow that people didn't know about? Was it her sister? Was the new CEO of the rebranded company actually helping her brother?

Suspicions were plenty. Things like the Parasite attacking National City happened a lot in Metropolis too. The simplest of crimes sometimes were all connected, all orchestrated by the megalomaniac Lex.

Kara didn't really know how to feel about that. She thought it was unfair of course. She's known Lena for a while now and she seemed genuine, earnest in her ways. She wanted to earn the people's trust back from all the wrong her brother did.

People in the streets, they would say exactly what Clark had once said. "Can't trust a Luthor."

But Kara trusted Lena, and she knew trying to connect her to this new incident was just ridiculous.

Or so at least she hoped.

Snapper was definitely convinced about the alternative to be true though. That the Luthors most definitely had some form of hand in this.

And Kara wanted to look for answers. Prove everyone wrong.

That's why she volunteered to get an interview from Lena herself.

Kara wasn't entirely sure how she found herself on her way to the L-Corp building to talk to Lena minutes after they were dismissed until she was finally standing outside of the building itself. She didn't even bother trying to figure out what she was going to ask in the first place, or call in advance to check if she would be free at all. All she knew was that she wanted to get answers.

She hadn't even thought about it, throw some suspicion in Lena's way. As far as she was concerned, what happened to Rudy Jones was an incident of its own. They were working on a project that can potentially save the world, solve global warming and all. How would it even be connected to the Luthors?

By the time she reached the floor where Lena's office was, Kara was already fumbling for her notebook, a battle going on inside her. One side was saying that talking to Lena, asking for a quick interview about National City's 'freak of the week' incident would sound totally ridiculous. By extension, that part of Kara was already feeling embarrassed.

But then there's that other side.

The other side that told her to be wary. The side that learned a lesson from what happened a year before, from the secrets that she had found out from the people she loved. A lot of people lose their way in saving the world. They fight for their ideals, their goals, their dreams, for the people that they love. But her own mother did not listen, hid truths from her. Her own aunt and the plan to use Myriad. Even Alex decided to cross a line when she killed Astra…

So what if… in a misguided attempt of saving the world…?

No, Kara didn't want to believe that.

That was too farfetched to believe anyway… Right?

"Kara, what a pleasant surprise." Lena said, a smile on her face as soon as Kara stepped into her office. The sun outside shone through the windows, basking Lena in a glow light that just made her even more mesmerizing than she usually was. Lena Luthor, as Kara had discovered during their first meeting, had a certain quality about her. A commanding presence, sharp wits, just something so alluring and mesmerizing.

Kara had found herself staring at times but she was always quick to catch it. She'd fumble around trying to adjust her glasses or play with the pen in her hands, turning it around until almost dropping it, and it usually took the attention away from her simply staring like a lost puppy at the Luthor girl and shift to her own clumsiness.

"Is there anything I can do for you today?" Lena asked, leaning back on her chair and raising a brow. Her eyes were studying Kara, curiosity always twinkling behind her gaze.

"Uh… Y-yeah. Sorry. Busy day and all, I didn't mean to interrupt you with work." was all that Kara could string together as a reply. She was trying to return her focus on the matter at hand. Lena was in the middle of doing some paperwork, so it wasn't like what Kara said didn't make any sense.

Lena simply smiled, her hand waived over the files on her desk as she turned her focus on Kara. "Don't worry about that. Nothing I can't do later. I assume though that there is a purpose for your visit today?"

Kara smiled in return and nodded. "Yeah. Um, we're writing an article on the recent incident with Parasite." Kara started to explain.

"Is that what people are calling that pink-purple thing from last night? I saw the coverage of the fight with Supergirl." Lena interjected.

Once again Kara nodded. "Right." she mumbled, losing strength to look at Lena at that moment. She didn't know how to broach the subject of her and her company being under suspicion of potentially masterminding the whole situation. "I'm basically here for an interview." she said truthfully. "A lot of similar things have happened in Metropolis in the past and well…"

"Am I always going to be featured in your articles every time something big happens in the city?" Lena asked with a chuckle, interrupting Kara. She gave Kara a look of understanding and with a deep breath waived her to seat down. It was her 'yes' to the interview.

Kara sighed and gave Lena a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. I know you want to distance yourself from all things Lex, have a new start…" Kara once again started.

"Don't be sorry Kara. If my opinion matters, then let it be heard, although I have no clue whatsoever how I could possibly be related to Parasite, I understand the need people have. Lex, he was crafty and cunning, and pretty much most, if not all, of the crazy that happened in Metropolis had his hands all over it. Besides, I'm sure I'll be in safe hands with you. Not like the prejudiced sharks that could potentially spin a story worthy of a tabloid magazine, if tabloid magazine ever focus on CEOs and whatever that thing was that terrorized the city last night."

Kara smiled. "Thank you." she managed to say, her fingers uncontrollably spinning the pen in her hand. "Mind if we start now? This would be quick, I promise."

"Sure." Lena replied with a good humored tone.

* * *

It was noon when Kara Danvers, promising fledgling reporter, had finished asking her questions. In truth, Lena was so tired of being associated with every single thing that could possibly be L-Corp related. She was tired of the suspicion, tired being some sort of pariah in town just because she was a Luthor. Like the only reason why people ever acknowledged her presence were because of two reasons. One was that she was Lex's sister, the new helm of a company once used as a front for the terrible things her brother did. Two was that she was the CEO of a prominent company. A company along the same tiers as Kord Industries and Wayne Enterprise. Wealth, influence, power, and more recently madness, were all associated with the name she carried. A name that had cast a shadow over her life. But Lena wanted to live in the light. Despite the tainted name, despite the constant suspicions and conspiracy theories every single time something happens. She pushes forward and soldiers on.

The questions always bothered her, although she never showed it. She knew better than to show who she was truly inside to people who might use her, people who would want to hurt her. She wanted a new life, a new start at National City. It seemed though that the past kept catching up, and the damages that Lex had done to the name reverberated through and through.

She's tired of being second guessed. Tired of having her motives being put under the microscope, dissected and discussed behind her back like she couldn't even hear the whispers. She's tired of having to defend herself. Case in point, people were trying to find ways of tying the incident at some research lab thousands of miles away that resulted in turning the poor Dr. Jones into Parasite But with Kara, she never minded them.

She found someone who gave the time of day to actually listen to her. Sure, the two have a different stance on some issues, but there she was, Kara Danvers, getting to the heart of the matter.

And if Lena was being honest, perhaps she was getting to her heart too.

It was tough to start over but for once she didn't feel so alone anymore.

The questions soon enough turned into easy conversation of two friends catching up with each other. Kara Danvers, sweet with her words, kind in her actions, was Lena Luthor's first actual friend. A friend she made despite her being a Luthor, a nice change from all the other people she had met in the past and associated with. Lena noted the time soon enough, "No wonder my head's starting to ache. I had a light breakfast and all." she commented.

"Oh." Kara then said and smiled rather innocently. "Sorry for keeping you so long. You're probably busy and you still have a lot of work, and… I should probably go."

"Nonsense Kara, I'm glad to have helped you." Lena replied with a genuine smile. "And, if you're not so busy yourself, won't you join me for lunch?"

"Yeah." Kara replied instantly and Lena couldn't help but laugh. "I know this great place."

"I'm sure you do." Lena replied as she started to make her way out behind her desk and gathering her things.

The two continued to make their way out of the L-Corp building, conversation now turning into Kara's list of must-try restaurants in National City. Lena found it a little adorable how the girl pretty much knew the entire menu of at least a dozen pizza places, Chinese restaurants, and cafes around the city in great detail.

"But Noonan's! That's my favorite! We should go there sometime." Kara said rather enthusiastically.

"We _can_ go there now Kara." Lena pointed out when Kara froze. "What is it?" she then asked. There was look on Kara's face as she tilted her head to one side, she looked like she was trying to listen for something.

Sirens were soon heard blaring through the streets. A loud crash was heard not far from the L-Corp plaza as a black van drove on, only stopping in front of where Kara and Lena stood. The nearby stores were all being robbed by men on foot, wearing ski masks and carrying some sort of alien device.

Just like last time.

More men came out of the van as soon as the door slid open. "We're here for a takeover. Maybe of the hostile kind. There are new kings in town." a towering man in a mask said as he slowly, threateningly, made her way towards the center of the plaza.

It didn't take Lena long to figure out that they were here for her.

Or at least possibly of L-Corp.

Why? She wasn't sure yet. L-Corp stood proudly at the heart of the city. It looked like they were just trying to reign in a bit of chaos. Robbing shops and banks were just a bonus really for what could happen if they take the CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the world hostage.

And with alien tech.

Lena felt Kara's hand instinctively reach for her, pulling her backwards. What Lena didn't know was that Kara was trying to figure out a way to get them out of this situation without having to reveal her identity.

The police started to catch up.

And what Lena didn't know was the DEO were also on their way.

A fire of shots were taken against the attackers only for another gravity gun to be used to toss a whole police car to the other side of the street. But it provided enough of a chaos that was need.

A plan was potentially forming at the back of Lena's mind "Kara, go, run for help." she said.

"I can't just leave you." Kara said. "We need to get you to safety."

"We _both_ need to get to safety." Lena replied.

More shots were being fired. People were all seeking for shelter. "Go. I'll be fine." Kara urged her and something in those blue eyes told Lena she should listen to her.

Lena turned around for a moment. More chaos. Kara had disappeared. Lena decided to head back to her office, she had a smaller prototype of that same electromagnetic device they used on similar weapons during the gala a few days ago in her office.

With that goal in mind, Lena started to run to her office only for her way to be blocked by one of the men in the ski masks.

What happened next was something unprecedented, with things happening so fast. Entropy increasing exponentially.

There was still that humming sound somewhere disabling all the gun-like alien tech those criminals wore. Some of them instantly pulled out their own guns and knives and the exchange of fire continued in the streets. The man in front of Lena pulled out a knife and instinctively Lena backed away.

She didn't get far though because she soon found herself surrounded and before she can fear for the worst, Supergirl appeared.

The humming sound was still there but then one of the men still in the van pulled out some circular thing that he threw out to one police car. A beam escaped the orb, obliterating anything made out of metal and releasing a blast radius that knocked most of the officers out.

The FBI seemed to be reaching the scene of the crime now, with helicopters popping out. Supergirl looked torn for a moment, too many distraction and destructions happening around her. She needed to focus on one problem at a time but before she could the same orb was already flying towards her face, blasting just inches away in the sky, the force throwing her down, forcing her to crush land near the fountain in the plaza.

Lena was about to brace herself. She took some self-defense classes at some point, she could at least buy time. Or so she thought.

But she didn't have to find out how much she would fair against ruthless thugs. A motorcycle came crashing out of nowhere form behind her, wiping out half of her would be assailants behind her. The man in front of her tried to lunge forward but the motorcycle's rider was there in between her and the thug, the man quickly being skillfully disarmed and knocked out.

Super girl had shaken off her fall and was instantly to Lena's side, taking care of the remaining thugs. The DEO – or what Lena identified as the FBI – were swarming in too, taking care of the rest. The NCPD right behind them.

"I think that should take care of it." Supergirl said as she turned around to face Lena. "Are you okay Ms. Luthor?"

But before Lena could reply, someone behind her tried to throw one of the little orb things again, taking one out from a bag and activating it in his hands.

He was shot down in time Agent Danvers. The orb still active, falling from her hands. "Supergirl, look out!" Alex yelled out as she herself ducked for cover.

Supergirl quickly grabbed Lena and without a moment's notice flew up to safety. The blast knocked off a few agents off of their feet and some of the assailants too. The rider who came to Lena's rescue falling to her side.

Lena hated flying. She had a certain distaste of it. But she had to admit, it wasn't too bad in Supergirl's arms.

Quiet and calm soon took over, the criminals being apprehended. Supergirl slowly descended, gently placing Lena down. "Thank you Supergirl." Lena found herself saying.

"Just doing my job." Supergirl replied.

* * *

Alex was quick on her feet, as soon as the blast had cleared and the ground felt like it would stop shaking, she stood up and rushed towards Lena and Supergirl. A lot has happened in the span of a day but she was thankful for this distraction. Insane, a little over the top action, true but Alex found it easy to slip into DEO agent mode once she got the call. It was only when she was on the field and actually doing something could she find peace from her busy mind. There so many things going on in her life right now, and really, sometimes taking a break from it all, even when that break came in the form of your usual 'threat of the day' action, was very much needed and welcomed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern written all over her face. She saw Kara take the impact of one of the blasts earlier and even being a Kryptonian and all, Alex knew that there were things that could still hurt her sister.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Supergirl replied. "She might not be." she then said, nodding towards the direction of the rider who came to Lena's aid earlier.

Alex nodded and turned only to find the rider standing up by herself, shaking it off. She couldn't help but being impressed by the sight of it really. She seemed shaky at first but she steadied herself soon enough and proceeded to take her helmet off.

"Boy, is it always rowdy here?" she asked. Fiery red hair came cascading down to shoulders as Lena found herself being regarded with sparkling green eyes and an annoying self-satisfied smirk.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. Alex had to admit. The stranger that came out of nowhere that came to both Lena and Kara's aid. Alex was about to say something when she heard Lena speak.

"You're a little far from Gotham, don't you think?" Lena asked with a chuckle. "Although I do suppose I owe you my life as well."

"Wait, do you know each other?" Alex found herself asking.

"I suppose you can say that." the redhead said with a smile before turning to Lena. "Good to see you too Lena." she added, before she shifted her attention once again. "And Supergirl! I have to admit, the compliments I've heard about you do you no justice."

"I… Um… Thanks? But seriously. Thank you for the help. You didn't need to do that. You could've gotten hurt." Kara replied, being caught off guard. From what Alex could tell, the redhead was trying to flirt a little with her sister. "I'm sorry, I don't think you said your name...?" Kara awkwardly asked. It was enough to make Alex chuckle really.

"Right, Supergirl, you might have heard of Gotham's infamous billionaire playboy so now let me introduce you to Gotham's own flirtatious daughter…" Lena started to say.

But she didn't get to finish that sentence.

"Kate." Alex heard and the voice was enough to make her heart swell three times its size and jump out of her chest. This despite getting her heart broken by the very same person last night.

It's Maggie's effect on her.

"What are you doing here?" Maggie asked. Alex turned around to see Maggie smiling, looking a little annoyed in truth, but still looking at the redhead. Maggie turned to almost, _almost_ , look at Alex and Alex quickly looked away.

She couldn't… just… not now…

She wasn't entirely sure if Maggie's eyes ever landed on her. She heard Kate chuckle in response to Maggie's question shortly after it was asked. "What would you say if I tell I'm here for you Mags?" she asked.

"Let's skip the BS because you're not here for me." Maggie replied. Alex dare to sneak another look at her. Annoyed look and smile still on her face.

"A friend asked a favor. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy my stay." was Kate's coy reply.

"This city is definitely smaller than I thought." Alex then heard Lena say and she couldn't help but think how true that statement was.

And that was only going to be proven more and more real and true the coming days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving it hanging there guys. I might end up writing the whole plot if I don't cut it here (I'm kind of on a roll... but also kind of busy...? haha... T.T).
> 
> Anyways, chapter 1 was mostly just set-up, a taste of what conflict may come. Comments and reviews are very much appreciated. Despite the year of writing I am still a neophyte with the fics and I'm definitely still new to the Supergirl fandom in terms of the ships. There are more characters to pop up that I haven't added in the tags because I don't want to spoil them. But yeah.
> 
> I know that Maggie in the comics was in a relationship with Batwoman/Kate Kane (I'm not sure if they still are…) and I thought why not throw her in. I do have a plot in mind and this story will mostly focus on SuperCorp and Sanvers (I'm using some familiar characters to further a plot that still is Superman-related) and Cadmus definitely is in the middle of all the mess. The fic might stretch to about 25-30 chapters depending on the feedback (I might do a bit of Arrowverse stuff? I wanna see Sara Lance flirt with both Kara and Alex, what can I say?). Also, I've never successfully followed the Batwoman series so I might be taking liberties with how I write the characters but I do know a thing or two about her relationship with Batman and the whole Batman family… so yeah, I might be taking a page out of the Bruce Wayne/Batman double life here. And throwing that into the mix of things. Besides, it's been noted that they have the same habits with their personal life…
> 
> I'll update as soon as I can. I promise!


	2. And So The Plot Thickens...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is wary of the arrival of Kate Kane for more reasons than one; Kara checks on Lena after the recent incident at L-Corp Plaza; Maggie visits an old friend; Kate's motives are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here is chapter 2 aka the plot thickens! Sorry for the slow build-up of things, but I do want to take my time to effectively tell the story. 
> 
> Thanks for the support so far! I'll try to get the third chapter up by tomorrow since they're all still pretty much just set-up to things. The fourth one might take a week to be posted so thanks in advance for the patience.

"Have we still not found the sources of _these_ devices?" J'onn asked, sounding very uneasy at the thought that someone out there in National City had access to advance technology not of the alien kind that wasn't a DEO issued item. He held a tiny circular microchip-like device in his hand and regarded it with great distaste. These microchip devices were detected all around the city, around the radius of the L-Corp plaza. Winn detected them during the latest attack, popping up everywhere and out of nowhere expected, emitting a low electromagnetic waves that counteracted the use of the alien-made blasters and gravity guns. Most of them self-destructed after the attack but Mon-El managed to snatch one and hand it over to Winn to deactivate the beeping tell-tale signs that it was about to explode in the nick of time. The DEO was now doing its best to figure out and trace its origins.

It helped them earlier, true, but that doesn't mean that they all weren't wary of the sudden appearance of the tech and its stealthy destruction.

"I'm doing the best I can here." Winn complained under his breath, typing away at the keyboard in his chair next to where Alex stood.

Debriefing after the latest attack of L-Corp couldn't have been tenser. It wasn't that hard to figure out that Cadmus had a hand with equipping known criminals with a new batch of alien weaponry. The tension mostly came from a whole lot of personal things.

Feelings, really, if Alex had to be honest.

First was the whole thing about the redhead that help save Lena Luthor earlier the day. Not only did she know the CEO but she knew Maggie personally. Kate, Alex remembered was her name, a woman from Gotham City. But that was all that she had the chance to know, their interactions cutting short when Kate's phone rang and she immediately excused herself. Alex tried to stop her from leaving, she had questions for one. Two, she wanted to make sure that the civilian who got herself involved with all the mess that afternoon was okay and not hurt.

"She'll be fine Danvers." Maggie had said, that was the first time she had said anything that day.

Alex had turned and smiled weakly, not daring to look Maggie in the eye. She still wasn't sure how to move forward with the debacle that happened the night before so Alex had simply nodded and left.

The second source was actually from Kara. J'onn quickly went on the offense to say that the device used may have been the same thing that Lena used during the gala and hypothesized that the CEO was quickly manufacturing similar devices. Kara quickly defended her. "Just because she's a Luthor doesn't mean that she's behind everything!" she had said sounding rather exasperated.

"Something doesn't feel right Supergirl, and I know you know it. We're missing a connection of something and we can't be blinded by the possibilities just because of developing relationships." J'onn had argued.

"Developing… Look, Lena's my friend. She just wants a fresh start. She was the one attacked here." Kara reasoned. J'onn didn't seem to be backing down though and before the argument escalated Kara had stomped off and flew away.

Which of course had put the DEO director in a rather irate mood the whole day, wanting to just get to the bottom of things.

"You know, there was another person on the scene." Alex said after one too many deep and heavy sighs coming from J'onn. "She saved Lena too and helped Kara. Form what I could tell she's got some moves. Took down a few of her would be attackers. Do you think she could be behind the device?"

"What do you mean?" J'onn prompted.

"I think she said her name was Kate, she seemed to know Lena." Alex continued to explain and J'onn groaned.

"Kane?" J'onn then asked and Alex nodded. J'onn immediately threw the device aside and rubbed his temples. "I'll handle this. Forget about the device for now." she then heard him say.

Winn looked just as surprised as Alex at the moment, the two exchanging looks. "Wait, I mean, isn't this a matter of national security or something?" Winn asked, taking the words right out of Alex's mouth. "Shouldn't we investigate?"

" _I'll_ handle this." J'onn restated and he turned to leave. The matter resolved.

At least for him.

Alex couldn't let it go though.

Later that day, after much mulling over whether she wants to cross another line and disobey J'onn, she found Winn with Mon-El at the training room in the DEO. "Winn, can I talk to you a sec?"

"Ah, sure Agent Danvers." Winn said following her out of the room to a quiet corner outside, leaving Mon-El to his own devices. Winn's been testing the limits of Mon-El's strength again.

"Kate Kane, what do you know about her?" Alex asked.

"Nothing much. I mean, boss man said drop it, so... The device though, is highly impressive. That much I know. Just the list of the materials used already is. I'm pretty sure they would all be patented. The metal casing wasn't steel, I'd say it's made out of carbon nanotubes or something. Circuitry top-notched too. We've got our scientist analyzing the chip and boy oh boy…"

"Can we can the science talk and get to the heart of the matter here?" Alex then asked cutting Winn from expressing his admiration for a tech that may or may not belong to an enemy. "You said the materials used to make it may be patented? Can you have a look into it? See how Kate Kane fits in and why J'onn acted the way he did when he heard the name?"

"You mean, go behind the boss's back, look into private maybe illegal details of a private civilian, and totally launch into our own, unsanctioned investigation?" Winn asked, pulling up a few files on his tablet, trying to flash an innocent-looking smile. "I may already have a lead start in that. And you won't believe what I've found out." he added, handing the tablet over to Alex.

And all that Alex could do was look at Winn, she was impressed by how fast he got together information about the device and Kane as soon as J'onn essentially forbade them to do so.

But more than Winn's efforts, Alex was about to be more impressed by the treasure trove of information he had found.

If only most of them weren't retracted.

* * *

"I know I shouldn't be here again, barging in. Sorry about that, I just feel like I may be taking advantage of you letting me in your office whenever I like…" Kara rambled on as she barged into Lena's office the second time that day. She couldn't help it.

A part of Kara already knew that Lena was safe after leaving her as Supergirl. Another part was worried sick that maybe she might just not be and some of the bad guys were back at it again. After the whole almost-argument… fine, actual-argument with J'onn and another stressful day at Catco, checking on Lena at the office at the end of the day didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Besides, it would be more suspicious if she doesn't. Kara Danvers, after all, just disappeared on her in the middle of the chaos, even if she did return as Supergirl. Kara did text Lena that she was fine and that Alex made sure that she was just as she got back to Catco.

"Kara, breathe." Lena said sounding a little amused at the rambling mess that was her. She was sitting coolly in her desk, finishing a few of the paperwork that Kara had interrupted her from finishing earlier.

"Right, sorry." Kara mumbled.

"And stop apologizing." Lena then replied. "I appreciate your concern, really. I don't think people would really mind if anything happened to me. I'm a Luthor, most of them would just appreciate it if there were no more Luthors in the world."

"Don't say that." Kara immediately said, taking a few steps closer to Lena's desk. "Your employees love you. From what I hear you're the nicest boss there is."

"So was Lex, before his obsession consumed him that is. He was the kindest, most considerate… now he's the monster people fear. Now people are just wary." Lena said with a hint of sadness as she looked down on her own hands. Kara could see disappointment in her eyes.

"But you're not Lex." she replied, reaching out to touch Lena's hand. Kara could feel the CEO relax a bit to her touch. "I know that and see that. I know you won't be like him. There's good in you Lena. And I care about you too, you know."

"That is very comforting to know." Lena replied with a smile. "But as your friend I would advise you to be a little less trusting sometimes Kara."

"I… well, I trust you. And I trust my instincts and my instincts say to trust you." Kara then replied.

Lena sighed, her hand slipping out of Kara's as she leaned back on her chair. "I don't suppose you're here for another interview? I'm sure Catco would want the scoop on the L-Corp attack as soon as they can."

"I'm here for you right now, Lena." Kara replied, which is the truth. Although Lena wasn't exactly wring either, considering Snapper definitely wants a whole front page article on it too. But with the Parasite attack, Cadmus' latest broadcast and advanced alien weaponry falling into wrong hands, the news world had a lot to report on. A follow-up interview with the CEO of the company that was targeted can wait. Perhaps tomorrow morning…?

Either way, it gives her a reason to check on Lena again.

"Thank you Kara." Lena replied with a softness to her voice. A genuine smile spreading on her face. There was a certain warmth to it really, the simple words and her simple actions. Kara has always observed Lena to be tough and cool, she had a kind of edge to her that meant business, that commanded respect.

But at that moment all those seemed to melt away and Kara could see a glimpse of a soft, vulnerable woman inside of her. Kara could see the uncertainties and heaviness of the truth that lingered with her words.

And Kara understood from it, Lena really meant what she said. She understood the depth of what Lena was trying to convey. For all Kara knew, she could be the first person, other than Lex Luthor who once cared for her sister, who actually wanted to make sure she was alright and cared about her well-being. A possible first person, after a long time, who wanted to be there for Lena, just Lena, and not be there because she was a Luthor.

Sometimes a name carried with it some significant weight to bear and Kara can only understand too well what Lena could be feeling.

"You know, we never got to go to lunch, and I believe I promised to take you to Noonan's?" Kara then said causing Lena to chuckle.

The CEO nodded, and swung out of her chair. "I _am_ hungry myself. Well then Kara, lead the way." Lena replied, wrapping her hands around Kara's arms as they made their way out of the L-Corp building, this time without any disturbances.

And Kara couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"I'm not leaving until I get answers." Maggie announced as she made her way through the layout of the apartment she's only been to once. The last time she had been there felt like a really long time ago, during a visit to National City that led to Maggie thinking she could have a fresh start in this place too.

She's not going to lie, she was a little bit inebriated, leaving the dive bar in frustration for trying to reach Alex all day. But to no avail. She wanted to talk to her, reach out, and see how she's doing. Maybe clear up some miscommunication between them?

No, Maggie wasn't go to lie. Besides, she' already spent all night trying to fool herself that the kiss meant nothing. That she wasn't thinking about how Alex's lips felt on hers, or how for the briefest of moments she felt her heart sway like never before. She tried, and tried, and all it did was make her crave to see Alex even more.

So she decided to shift her attention to something else, realizing the futility of reaching Alex now. She needed space, and Maggie could only let her have it. After all, Alex is going through a lot now, she needs to focus on herself, find herself and all and find solid ground. She's on a new and exciting journey, one that Maggie fully supports.

She just doesn't want to complicate things.

Alex Danvers managed to do something impossible, and Maggie was too afraid to admit it just yet. She does know that the DOE agent was very important to her, and there was no way in hell she was going to lose her.

That's how Maggie found herself using a key she forgot she still had to go to an apartment that wasn't really hers. Although once upon a time she did consider it her home.

Kate looked up from her laptop, she was working on something in the living room. She didn't look surprised at all to see Maggie there. Maggie made her way until she was standing across the sofa where Kate was happily lounging before the redhead even regarded her. "I'm waiting." Maggie said with an expectant tone.

"I forgot you still had a key." Kate commented before shutting her laptop off and turning her attention to Maggie. "What can I do for you?" she then asked with a smile.

"I have no time for games Kate, what are you doing to National City? Is there some big, you know, _business_ , I should know about?"

"First of all, thanks for the warm reception." Kate said gesturing to Maggie, taking a sip of the drink she had in the glass on the coffee table. "Second of all, sit down Mags, make yourself comfortable. At least don't make me feel being interrogated of something. And third, I already thought I told you, a friend asked me for a favor."

"Is this friend who I think it is?" Maggie asked, taking a seat across Kate. "Look, National City has its fair share of the weird, I'd like to know is any of Gotham's original and colorful rogues followed you here. Or if you're following them here."

"No. Nothing like that." Kate replied honestly. "Although be honest with me, we once promised to honest with each other, right? And we promised _always_. I'm holding you to honor that. You're not here because you're curious on what I'm doing in National City."

Maggie stopped for a second, her eyes never leaving Kate's. The two of them were in some weird stare down, trying to read each other's motives. "I don't know what you mean." Maggie settled as her reply.

Kate chuckled. "Don't BS me." she replied, calling Maggie's bluff. "Something's going on behind that pretty little face, I can tell. And I have this nagging feeling that it may have something to do with the secret agent with Supergirl earlier today."

"H-how did…" Maggie started to say, she wanted to protest really but Kate simply smiled and shook her head.

"I'm a great detective too, or have you forgotten?" Kate asked, quirking her brow before standing up from her sofa to stretch. "It's written all over your face Mags, that lovelorn look, those sneaky glances you threw her way while talking to me. Don't try to distract yourself by trying to figure out why I'm here."

"But can I know why you're here?"

"I'll tell you if you need to know." Kate simply replied with a shrug before turning to leave, heading to her bar. "But tell me the truth, do you like the DEO agent?"

"I never said anything about the DEO." Maggie replied in defense.

Kate gave her a knowing look before rolling her eyes. "Okay, how about we skip the part where we try to pretend that I'm a drunk socialite who only knows how to party hard and you just talk to me? We said we're friends no matter what, and you are one to me."

"Then what on earth are you doing behind there?"

"I'm getting the real stuff." Kate replied in all honesty. "I said we can be friends, but I think I'll need to be drunk to process anything you say about another girl you will undoubtedly talk about and who you are clearly in love with."

"I never said anything about love." Maggie protested.

"Yeah, Mags, you're fooling no one." Kate quickly replied with a dry chuckle as she poured herself a drink, once again calling Maggie out.

"Can we just pretend that I'm actually here to figure out what you're doing instead?" Maggie then asked as Kate made her way back to the living room. "What with your uncanny ability to get yourself in plenty of dangerous situations, I do care."

"No. I appreciate the thought, but no." Kate replied with a somber look. "Look, there's something going on with you and I know it's troubling you because you don't exactly have anyone to talk to about it. I know you quite well, and I don't think you'll bother any of your comrades in NCPD about lady troubles. Just make use of my kindness already and talk before I change my mind, will you?"

Maggie sighed, resigning to her fate.

But it's not like she wasn't entirely happy that she has someone willing to listen to her about how she feels about a certain Alex Danvers… and how she's already got her head spinning, her heart thumping like crazy, all from just one kiss.

* * *

It was already probably around the early hours of morning when Maggie left. Kate had to applaud herself for sitting throughout all of it not completely drunk. It was one thing to be friends with your ex and deal with the fact that they might want to be with someone else. It was another to listen to her spill put her heart to you, being one of the very few people she trusts, and talk about the new woman she loves.

Nevertheless, Kate got herself together, a potassium I.V. drip on hand and ready, as she found herself in a hidden room in the study of her National City residence.

"You look worse for wear, and you're not even suiting up." said by the deep serious voice coming out form her computer screen.

"Yes well, National City has been throwing me one surprise after the other, what can I do?" Kate replied. "I am getting the job down though."

"I suppose then this call has something to do with _actual_ progress made?" the man replied.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're actually quite snarky sometimes?" Kate replied before pulling up a file on screen. "And yes I have. With Oracle's help we found out that the hundreds of Luthor's illegal research facilities have been shut down. Either destroyed in earlier encounters with Superman or emptied out and shut down by whoever is taking over his projects while he's behind bars. There are only twenty three left active, most of them under new names, assuming identities of new research facilities and labs operating legally, but still under the control of Cadmus. One particular group of labs is Thorul – which, really, they could have been more creative than stick with an anagram of 'Luthor'. My theory is that they're trying to keep the questionable experiments out of the way from its regular employees and only a subsection of scientists are actually related to Cadmus, that's why their allowed to operate. The recent Parasite incident makes me think that they're still testing things out on alien life forms, it's really unfortunate that innocent people are getting dragged in this too. The extent of how the current L-Corp administration is involved in this is still unclear. I'm looking into it now."

"Did you find where Project 13 is being kept?" he asked.

"No." Kate replied truthfully. "Any files related to it seem to be non-existent for the moment, or possibly only on paper and securely kept. From what I gathered myself with my own investigations, all twenty three facilities are widely distributed and have vast space for labs and equipment. I know that of the twenty three, twenty of them also keeps a large cache of kryptonite, not just the green variety I'm afraid. I'm also sending you this video file Oracle helped me recover from the wreckage of one of the shutdown facilities. One of the rogue Kryptonians from Fort Rozz last year was captured by Cadmus and they pretty much tested all of these materials on him. This should help us in learning what some of the unfamiliar ones that they have do, how they affect Kryptonians."

"I suppose that's a good start. But we really need to figure out where Project 13 is. Preferably before it is fully operational and Lex gets his hands on it to unleash its power."

"I agree." Kate replied. "Although I still think you should tell the boy scout about what you found."

Kate got a rather stern and grumpy groan from the other side and she couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't care much about whatever 'bro's quarrel' you have going on with him right now, he needs to know. I think Supergirl too."

"Focus on working on which facility is which. There are undoubtedly more unsanctioned experiments going on in most of them. Reach out to the DEO if you must when the time comes, they're currently looking into Cadmus themselves."

"I know. But consider what I'm saying, will you Batman? I know he's still butt-hurt you're keeping your own small stash of kryptonite for emergency cases, but this is big stuff. I'm not saying your lack of transparency didn't contribute either."

"When the time comes." was what she got in reply. "I'm sending Nightwing to have a look of the now abandoned facility in the Arctic in case the DEO may have missed anything of relevance."

Kate was about to suggest she _could_ just go to the DEO herself but before she could open her mouth a siren from the Batcave in Gotham disrupted the conversation. "Duty calls?"

"No, more like a stern scolding." Batman said, before talking off his cowl, a scowl forming on his face. From somewhere off-screen Kate could already here Damien Wayne making some sort of excuse for whatever mess he's made. "Get to it and update me of any new information." Bruce had said before ending the call.

"Will do." Kate replied to no one, removing her I.V. drip.

It was time to get back to work.


	3. The Parts We Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara sets out on that interview with Lena about the incident at L-Corp only to find the flirtatious Kate Kane already at her office and that she doesn't quite know how to feel about that; Cat Grant comes back into town; Maggie and Alex finally get a chance to talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! As promised here is chapter 3. And again as promised, more focus on Kara and Lena and their budding relationship that Kara may be a little oblivious about, as well as Alex and Maggie finally getting the chance to talk.
> 
> Plus the return of one of my fave characters on the show. ;)
> 
> Chapter 4 should be up towards the end of the week featuring interactions between Alex and Kate, another attack from Cadmus and a prototype for a well-known foe. Supes and a few more familiar faces/characters will drop by in coming chapters too.

Every morning thus far since Kara became a reporter felt like jumping out of a frying pan and into the fire. Although for Kara, there really wouldn't be a difference between two situations, physically speaking, the whirlwind of exchanges in the morning leaves her feeling that she's constantly being thrusted into a position where she'll come under fire.

Someone brought up during their morning meeting that the Guardian didn't show up during the attack yesterday, someone else wanted to focus on the attack on L-Corp itself and why Lena Luthor was once again targeted. Conspiracy theories were also thrown in for good measure because they just can't get enough of the conspiracy theories, much to Kara's dismay.

By the end of it, Kara was sure she'll have a headache. At some point, James and Snapper once again got into an argument – on what, Kara wasn't really sure but they seem to be trying to measure up their egos against each other, which really, was starting to get a little redundant and annoying.

"It's nice to see that everyone is so high-spirited so early in the morning that they can't get over themselves and get anything done." Cat Grant said, marching right back in her office, her very presence alone was enough to shut everyone up.

Even Snapper who never seemed to run out of protests, at least against James.

"M-Ms. Grant, I thought you'll be gone for a while?" Kara asked confused, she was pleasantly surprised, but still confused.

"Well Kiera, a lot has happened the past few weeks and while I can see that the magazine's been doing an exceptional job, we seem to be far behind in the news and times. Disappointing really." Cat had said, settling down behind her chair, making James jump up from his earlier position of casually leaning on the edge.

Cat took a deep breath, scanning the room before regarding everyone. " _The Daily Planet_ just released an article about a massive deal between the military and the Hamiltons. The Hamiltons, if any of you lackwits do not know, is one of the biggest arms company not just in the country, but in the world. And yet, if any of you acted fast enough, we could have had the story on our front pages this morning. Inside information, an interview with the heiress of the company herself. She managed to dodge Lois Lane, God knows how, during her visit in Metropolis and while the _Planet_ was first on the story, we could be have been able to get a better story out in time. A lot can happen in a span of few hours, after all, and with a Luthor in town, we might actually be seating on something big here."

"Wait, uh no offense Ms. Grant, but what are you going on about? We're on the biggest story in the city right now. L-Corp has just been…"

"Attack, I know." Cat Grant said, immediately shutting down one of her reporter's comments. "Katherine Kane was spotted at L-Corp plaza yesterday afternoon at some point during said attack and after. Just this morning some amateur wanna be photographer posted on some social media sight that she was at a café near L-Corp talking with Lena Luthor herself. So tell me, why isn't someone already out there getting this story?"

"Ka-Katherine Kane? Kate Kane?" Kara repeated, asking what felt like such an obvious question.

Snapper looked at her with a curious gaze. "Do you know her ponytail?"

Kara bit her tongue. Technically she doesn't, Supergirl was the one who met her. "I-I mean… I saw Lena Luthor last night. I was there when L-Corp got attacked for the interview… a-and we… uh… we had to reschedule. So, yeah, she might have mentioned something about a Kate Kane. But what about Ms. Kane? How's she related with the Hamilton arms deal with the military?" Kara asked.

Cat gave her a knowing smile. "She's the heiress to the fortune. Catherine Hamilton Kane is her step-mother. The two go way back." she replied. "Which I expected all you to know already, I was at least hoping for someone to be competent enough to realize this." Cat then sighed before focusing on Kara. "You seem to be well connected with Lena Luthor already, Kiera. Developing impressive sources other than Supergirl, I see. Since you seem to be in the good graces of our female Luthor, I expect you can get that interview and possibly an article on the attack you so happen to witness first-hand?"

"Ah, yeah, yes Ms. Grant." Kara replied as confidently as she could.

"Well, hop to it." Cat then said motioning for Kara to go. "I still have to deal with the rest of these lot."

Kara wasted no time and left for L-Corp. She knew, using her powers to eavesdrop wasn't right, but the temptation was strong. The elevator doors were closing when she finally settled on doing it, just this once, and was definitely happy to hear Cat announce that she'd be staying for a little while before she goes off to leave again.

She may have also heard her give James a lengthy lecture on being more assertive and commanding the team with respect.

Kara didn't waste any time to get to L-Corp plaza. Telling herself not to slip about the whole flying thing again.

 _Flying on a bus… really Kara_ … Kara chastised herself at the thought of her past slip up. She made a quick mental note to mind her words whenever possible. Truthfully she wasn't sure how she's been able to get past Lena, or Cat for that matter, when every now and then she slips up like that.

Kara was pretty much looking forward to seeing Lena again. She had to admit though that the thought of Kate Kane potentially, currently, seeing Lena earlier that day was making her feel uneasy for whatever reason, she was definitely looking forward to seeing the CEO. Kara wasn't sure how Lena would react to having dinner at Noonan's the night before, Kara was definitely picturing her being used to eating at the classiest and fanciest restaurants in town. Not that Noonan's wasn't a nice place to start. But again, in Kara's head, Lena would have probably preferred to go someplace a little more on the fine dining side of things.

Last night was fun. And though the day started off with a literal blast she was glad it ended the way it did. Their conversation the whole night through flowed smoothly. In the past, all she and Lena ever talked about typically revolved around work related things, or Lex, or how Lex had essentially ruined the Luthor name, or how Lena was trying so hard despite the constant scrutiny she received with everything she did.

That and the constant threats to her life.

But dinner was different and Kara was happy with how things turned out. No one could have guessed Lena Luthor would be such a geek, talking about science fiction and fantasy like an excited child. Kara managed to even tell a bed time story about a nearby galaxy to Krypton, slip in some of its lore too and pass it off as stories she heard from her parents when she was younger.

"I don't get it though, here you are talking about galaxies far, far away and technology and adventure you wouldn't even believe." Kara found herself telling Lena over dinner.

"And yet I seem to be against aliens and what not? I'm not against the alien registration act, Kara, I told you that already. But I think that humans have a right to not live in fear. I'm actually jealous of the technology those other worlds have, I wish we can have that, but maybe humans aren't ready just yet. I know Lex tried, and… well… we both know how that ended. I wish I could see it though, a place where its inhabitants were actually peaceful and civil with each other, but not every world is like that. No world in existence is like that. That's why I know that not every visitor to our planet have good intentions. Not everyone's like Supergirl."

"I know." Kara couldn't help but agree, remembering the aliens she had to chase after and lock up from Fort Rozz. Somehow their dinner conversation made Kara both miss her home planet and at the same time wish that things didn't turn up the way they did. Not with how Krypton met its end. And most definitely not how things ended with her aunt. But Kara set those sentiments aside last night. She was with Lena. It was a time to just be Kara and not Supergirl. Not be Kara Zor-el, the last daughter of Krypton. And it was a time for Lena to just be herself too, not be a Luthor and all. "I have to say, I thought I finally have you figured out Lena, but you keep surprising me at every turn."

"Good surprises I hope." she had said, her eyes shining with a kind of light that Kara never thought would be possible. Lena had enjoyed herself, Kara's never seen her so relaxed before, and she couldn't help but take a bit of pride in that.

In the fact that she's one of the few, if not the only one, who could see Lena the way she truly is.

So maybe that's why she felt a little disappointed when she reached the floor to Lena's office. Kara didn't need to use her superpowers to hear Lena laughing from outside of her office. Kara turned to give her assistant on duty a questioning look but the exasperated looking woman just shrugged.

"I still can't believe we ended up tumbling out of that closet in front of Bruce of all people! God that was quite a party!" Kate Kane had said, laughing. She was standing, leaning over the edge of Lena's desk with a mimosa in hand.

Judging from the three empty bottles on Lena's coffee table, that wasn't the first.

"Oh, I think he was more scandalized that he was planning to hide away in the same closet from a spurned ex like we both were. Did you ever find out if he believed us?" Lena asked giggling, she was sitting on her couch, looking just as relaxed as she was as last night.

And for whatever reason it rubbed Kara the wrong way. She was happy Lena was happy.

_She just… wasn't… why wasn't she happy exactly?_

"It was the truth, though I wouldn't mind being in there with you for other reasons." Kate replied.

"Oh, um, sorry Lena, didn't know you were busy. I can drop by later." Kara said, stepping in tentatively into the office. For whatever reason – mostly form the way that Kate's voice dropped a little low when she spoke – Kara felt like that would be the most appropriate moment to interrupt.

"Kara!" Lena exclaimed rather happily, standing form where she sat and walking towards Kara. She took Kara's hand with both of hers and pulled her inside the office. "What are you talking about? Stay. Come on, I want you to meet someone."

Kara smiled with uncertainty as Lena turned to face Kate. By the time Kara turned her attention to the redhead she met the day before, she noticed Kate already staring at her, studying her.

At least that's how Kara felt it.

"Kara Danvers, meet Katherine Kane." Lena then said.

"Kate, please just call me Kate. Nice to meet you Ms. Danvers." Kate then said, reaching out her hand to shake Kara's. Kara accepted, her eyes meeting Kate straight on, trying to figure out the heiress.

"Kara, please." Kara said and once Kate flashed her wide flirtatious grin, repeating her name. Lena herself stepped in between the two.

"That's enough of you. You already broke my laptop, I'm not going to allow you to try and _corrupt_ Kara with your lawless ways of living." Lena said, placing an arm around Kara and guiding her to the couch, causing the Kryptonian to do a quick scan of Lena's desk. Sure enough, Lena's laptop was currently soaking in champagne. A part of Kara really, really didn't want to know what happened with it, how the champagne could have spilled, with her thoughts quickly going to places they never went before. She managed to snap out of it soon though, the rest of Lena's comment sinking in.

Kara turned to face Lena, studying her face. There was challenge there in her eyes. A challenge and a confidence Kara couldn't quite place as she looked Kate straight in the eye. Kate didn't seem like she was backing down but she could tell that something had changed too.

And all of a sudden Kara felt like Lena was being quite protective of her.

Which was, if Kara was telling the truth, a nice change of things. Granted Alex was always worried about her too, and she _was_ practically invulnerable so really she didn't need it, but that was different.

"I told you I was going to replace it. And I didn't know you had so little of an opinion of me, Lena, I'm hurt." Kate said with a good humored tone, rolling her eyes and grinning.

"You really don't need too. I can have a new one up and running as soon as you leave. Really, I'm just relieved nothing of great importance is in there. As for your little comment, I just know you well enough." Lena replied, adopting a more serious tone towards the end. Lena was now starring down at Kate, and somehow the disappointment that Kara had felt earlier had disappeared.

Something about the unspoken exchange between the two socialites felt charged. There was a warning there, Kara could feel it. But whatever tense air existed between the two was dropped when Kate laughed.

Lena shook her head, her eyes looking away for a minute before turning to face Kara. "What can I do for you Kara? Catco finally wants that interview?"

"Uh, yeah. With you and Ms. Ka- Kate too. Ms. Grant's personal order."

"Cat Grant's back in town? Interesting." Lena said thoughtfully, before turning back her attention to Kate. The arms fortune heiress placed her glass down on Lena's desk after downing the entire drink. Kara turned her attention to the redhead herself, half-expecting her to say something.

And she did. "I'm sorry but I must decline, Kara, I don't really do interviews." Kate replied with a smirk. "But, if you…"

"I swear, Kate, if you don't stop trying to flirt with Kara…" Lena said with an eye roll. "Humor her with an interview, will you? She really has a way with words."

"Oh, I bet." Kate quickly replied. "But if this is about my step-mother's company, then it would be really useless. I'm not exactly hands on with anything related to the company. At least I try not to be. I'm more of the enjoy the good things life brings kind of person."

"So you're not here in National City for business?" Kara asked, taking this as her opportunity and Kate shook her head. "Then, if you don't mind me asking, what's the main purpose of your visit to National City?"

Kate shrugged. "I got bored of Gotham? You know sometimes it just gets repetitive, I wanted a change of scenery or something. I visited Metropolis and before that Coast City, so really, I'm just here for no reason but to enjoy. Besides, from what I've heard, Gotham's own psychopath is back at it again and is currently terrorizing the city, really I don't think I'm missing much on anything."

"See, was that so hard now?" Lena then ask with all the snark she could muster and Kate chuckled.

"Well, if that's all, I think I've exhausted all the fun here for now." Kate said before gathering her things. "I do intend to replace that laptop Lena."

"I'm sure you do." Lena replied as Kate made her way out. "I hope you're not riding bike or driving."

"I crashed my bike, remember? Besides Lena, what's so good about being rich if you can't afford a driver? I'll see you soon." Kate replied and Lena nodded.

"She's rather… interesting…" Kara then said once Kate Kane was out of earshot.

"She's a good person once you know her, but she can be a handful sometimes" Lena said gesturing towards the bottles of champagne. "I do want to note I only had one glass and she pretty much consumed the rest. Well, except for the bottle she spilled."

"Okay, wow." Kara replied a little bit impressed and concerned at the amount of alcohol actually consumed that morning.

But the same time, Kara couldn't help it but feel like something was amiss. Sure Kate was swaying a bit, acting like she was a bit inebriated really,

"So about that article you're writing, how can I help?" Lena asked turning around to face Kara properly now, leaning back on the couch just like the way she did that day she called for Kara to thank her for the first article she's ever written.

A slow smile slowly crept on Kara's face. She didn't even realize how much she had wanted to be left alone in Lena's company.

* * *

Kara was all but happy when she got back to her office at Catco and immediately proceeded to write the article regarding the interview. There was a slight spring in her step that Cat couldn't help but notice.

 _Just what happened during the time I was away?_ Cat thought to herself.

There was so much turn around. James Olsen trying to shed his persona of just being the friend of the superhero for one, trying to pretend to Cat that he has no idea who the Guardian could be while trying to pretend that his whole body is aching because of playing sports.

Seriously, who were they all trying to fool?

She at least let Kara's slip, the girl really goes beyond effort to try to pretend she wasn't Supergirl. Besides, her growth both as Kara Danvers and as Supergirl was enough for Cat for now. She would be lying if she said she wasn't proud of her at all.

Cat had the pleasure of going through Kara's article once the polished draft reached her. She looked up to see Kara Danvers only starting to leave for the day, despite having to sneak out twice due to a robbery nearby and a fire at Bleaker St. about two hours ago. Easy Supergirl saves.

Cat was very much tempted to call out for her but she decided to let her go for now. She figured Kara deserved some time off and to relax. She did manage to get a statement or two from Kate Kane, and although they didn't exactly have an expose to release to the entire world, she managed to do something even Lois Lane failed to do. Cat couldn't stop the self-satisfied smirk on her face at the thought of it.

She just couldn't help but feel protective of the girl.

She wasn't sure if Kara was aware of it, but something was happening. She could feel it. Cat asked for all the drafts Kara had on the article earlier, and she could see that in the rough first drafts, the Kryptonian's own feelings were spilling through. The way she wrote about Lena Luthor said it all.

Cat wasn't sure just what kind of game the CEO was playing, or if she was playing any at all. But she will not let her hurt or ruin Kara Danvers.

But for now, the little infatuation that Kara had didn't seem to pose any danger at all. If anything, Cat thought, she probably hasn't realized it herself.

And maybe, just a maybe, there was a Luthor out there actually capable of having feelings for another human being.

Cat Grant was right, as always. She just didn't know by how much.

* * *

Kate's words the night before were still haunting Maggie.

Mostly because they rang true.

Kate had taken a long deep breath and slowly released it, patiently listening to Maggie unburden her heart. True, it should have been awkward, but that's the thing with Kate. When she drops the act and she's actually serious about things, when she was just Kate, Maggie found that it was very easy to talk to her. So maybe it should have been awkward. But it wasn't. Because once Maggie started talking, the words just kept spilling out.

Didn't mean that the redhead wasn't having a hard time listening to it all. She pretty much downed half the bottle of scotch she had opened at the start of their conversation in record time. She had been nursing what felt like her sixth glass when she all but groaned in the middle of Maggie's speech. "If you like the girl so much, what is the problem then?" Kate had asked trying her best not to show her irritation.

"I don't know why you're getting all antsy at me when you were the one who wanted me to talk." Maggie had given as her reply. "And are you not really going to offer me a drink?"

"You're not the one suffering here." Kate replied. "I mean, I get it, you are suffering, somewhat, but you have the option of not suffering."

"Well, I'm not the one who broke up with the other." Maggie retorted.

"Not the point." Kate had said abruptly, swirling the contents of her glass. "You like her, it's clearer than a bright and sunny day. I don't understand why you don't just go for it. You've always been brave, you always took the first step. You being scared and terrified about something that you don't know might happen if you do decide to get your head out of your ass, I think, is only further proof of how much she actually means to you."

"But she just… she's only starting to take the baby steps out and… I don't know. I just, I don't want to be her test run, just 'cause I'm like what? The first out person she knows? I just, I don't want to be her first, you know? If I can choose, I'd rather be the last."

Kate had nodded slowly and smiled weakly. "People go through life on their own pace." she had said, "They experience different things on different speeds at different times. And, well, no one ever said anything will be easy. Sure you just got out of a relationship yourself, and sure your experiences were different when you were growing up and coming to the same realizations that she is now. I'm not saying your fears aren't justified and all, but… Mags, it sounds to me like you'd rather be her only. So why don't you be? Do you really want to risk having Alex fall in love with someone else and wait in the sidelines forever? Are you really going to just let her slip away like that? Or will you go after her, be her only?"

It was a simple question really. But it had pacified her completely.

Her, Maggie Sawyer.

Really, people sometimes don't give Kate the credit she deserved. But then again, she never showed Kate the deserved that credit in the first place, at least not to other people.

It was running twenty hours since she heard Kate say those words and it was still running through her mind. Mostly because Maggie still couldn't come up with a reasonable answer to why not.

Maybe that's why she couldn't really focus the whole day. That and well, thinking about Alex all day without actually seeing her was driving her insane.

_Damn it, Danvers! What did you do to me?_

Maggie was on her third shot of the night, having only arrived at the dive bar a good five minutes before. She was about to down the drink when she caught a glimpse of the DEO agent walking with such urgency towards her. "We need to talk."

So what else was Maggie to do? She didn't bother with the drink, setting it down on the bar. She kept her eyes on the drink she's essentially discarding before taking a deep breath and turning to face Alex. Sure, she's been waiting for that chance to talk to Alex, but something tells her that what Alex wanted to talk about had nothing to do with what happened between them.

Alex's tone was all business.

Maggie smiled, trying to muster up the same confidence she usually surrounded herself with whenever she was with Alex. She turned to greet her, "Danvers, what can I do for you this lovely evening?"

She saw Alex glance away, taking a deep breath to steady herself before looking up at Maggie tentatively. She took another deep breath before clearing her throat. "This is important." she said. "Can we talk somewhere more private than the bar?"

"My place is nearby, if you want, we can go there." Maggie offered.

"Sure." Alex nodded in agreement.

Maggie led the way, her third shot completely forgotten now. The walk was spent in silence and stolen glances. Maggie didn't mind, Alex looked like she had a lot going through her mind.

Actually, strike that, she was definitely a bit on edge, checking the hallway of Maggie's apartment before even entering. "Okay Danvers, spill."

Alex looked a little tense, pulling out a file she had hidden inside her jacket and handing it over to Maggie wordlessly. Maggie opened the file, going through its contents, most of them redacted but then again Maggie already know the story they told. "Kate's not your enemy." Maggie then said, handing the file back to Alex.

"I'm sorry but don't you think it's suspicious that she suddenly shows up at National City with the recent rise of alien-tech-related attacks? She was blackmailed to join the DEO, Maggie, after being investigated in the first place. While the mission reports were redacted, it did say she broke Cameron Chase's arms once! And she's like, the head of the New York division, she's a legend."

"Well, she is the heiress to a weapons company." Maggie shrugged. "Besides, she was blackmailed because of her father's past activities and mistakes, not because of her. And yeah, I may have met a Cameron Chase one. I stayed at Gotham at some point, did you know she beat Batman in a fist fight or something?"

"Bu- wait, what? Really?" Alex ask, the worried business serious tone she had flying out of the window for a second and there in front of Maggie, returned the adorable Alex Danvers Maggie had come to know and love. Maggie let out a chuckle and Alex seemed to snap out of the momentary lapse into her conversational and relaxed self. She cleared her throat again. "H-how do you know all of this?"

"Well, I could ask you why you're looking into her in the first place?" Maggie threw back.

"I'm worried, of…" Alex started to say before clearing her throat, again. Maggie noticed she does that a lot when she's nervous. "During the attack, the DEO found small devices that disabled the alien tech, most of them self-destructed afterwards. We suspect that it's hers. I mean she has tech as advanced, even more, than what we have, and no one seems to be batting an eye. "

"That actually makes sense." Maggie then said thoughtfully, looking away from Alex for a moment. "She's not here to hurt Supergirl, Alex. That much I can promise you if that's what you're worried about." she added, a part of her being a little jealous of Alex's concern about Supergirl.

But of course that's because Maggie didn't know that Supergirl was Kara. She didn't know that Alex was worried that Kate might be a bigger threat than she was because J'onn said he would personally handle the business regarding her and it unsettled Alex a bit that he wouldn't tell her why.

And she also didn't know that Alex was worried about her too, especially since she was connected to Kate.

"I don't know Maggie. I know you know her, but how much do you really trust her? Reports on her are pretty much limited to tabloid noise of her partying and drinking but then you look at her bio and see… she joined the Marines, she had top grades at West Point before she was dishonorably discharged."

"Did the report you dig up on her not tell you why she was discharged in the first place?"

"N-no. Why?" Alex asked, and Maggie could tell that the agent was genuinely curious to find out.

Maggie smiled softly at Alex. "It's because she shared a little something in common with me. With you too." she said knowingly.

Alex's looked at her confused for a moment before things clicked. "O-oh… um… mhmm…" she managed to get out as a reply before nodding.

"I don't honestly know why she's here though. But she's someone _you_ can trust. I promise you that." Maggie added and that seemed to calm Alex down a bit.

"Trust still needs to be earned. And I don't like how she acts." Alex then said, this despite only having a brief interaction with the heiress. Maggie laughed and Alex relaxed a bit before she tensed up again making the detective wonder what could be going through her mind at that moment.

"I-I should probably go." Alex said, turning to leave. "I'll see you around Sawyer."

"Danvers, wait." Maggie called out, but Alex didn't stop. Maggie crossed the distance from her living room to her door just to reach her. She wasn't going to let her go this time without talking. She was seizing her chance now. "Alex." Maggie said, her voice trying to plead with the DEO agent, her hand resting on Alex's own.

"A-about the other night." Maggie started to say, and all of a sudden Alex wasn't the only one who was feeling like a kid again. Maggie could feel the butterflies fluttering deep inside her when Alex turned, a brief blush tainting her cheeks before she casts her eyes down.

"We don't really need to talk about it." Alex said, her voice sounding a little broken, sad, disheartened. And Maggie's heart was breaking just from the sound of it. "I get it." Alex then added with a shaky breath as she tried to meet Maggie's eyes.

"I don't think you do." Maggie replied. Kate's words started echoing again in her thoughts just as she struggled to find the words to say, explain what she meant. "I'm here for you, Alex."

"I know." Alex replied. "As my _friend_." she said with a hint of disappointment.

And Maggie shook her head. "You know, I'm not always as brave as I want to be. But… Alex, this isn't about me or us… I just…" Maggie started rambling on, not sure what she wanted to say exactly. She took a deep breath and smiled, smiled so helplessly at Alex who was doing her best to decipher her words.

Maggie her best, really she was. But her fears and her insecurities… it was all bubbling through the surface and she was struggling to keep herself intact in front of the person who makes her feel most vulnerable.

She took a deep breath and smiled again, mustering all of her strength to string together something coherent enough. "I want you to be happy, Alex." she started, and that was a good enough place to start. "I don't know if I'll be the one who can make you happy. I don't know if I'm the one you want exactly." she continued to say. Here she was, Maggie Sawyer, ready to bear her soul just like Alex did the best way she could. She was doing her best to muster up the same strength Alex had that day. "I want to be here for you, I really do. I want to be here for you while you try to figure out what you want, who you are, you know?"

"Maggie…" Alex started to say, starting to clue in. "I didn't… I didn't kiss you because you were the first girl I knew who liked girls too and had a chance with." she said breathlessly and the cracks on the masks they both wore were starting to show. "It wasn't out of convenience."

Maggie could see it. The hurt she had accidentally caused.

She nodded. "I just don't want to be…" she started to say before stopping short of repeating Kate's own words. "I don't want to rush anything." Maggie said, her voice cracking up a little bit either. "And I don't want to just jump in head first because, Alex Danvers, I've done that quite a few times now and I ended up on the worse side of things and I don't think I can handle that with you."

"What are you saying?" Alex asked almost breathlessly, her look softening and Maggie understood, _really understood_ , just how vulnerable she makes Alex feel.

"I'm saying that, well… that I… I don't want to just be your friend. That I want to figure this out with you, you know? But at a pace _you_ set. A pace you're comfortable with. I don't want to play games with you or just… _experiment_ … I want to take the time, however long it takes." Maggie said, hoping her words would be enough to make it clear to Alex this time. "This is your journey Alex, and it's so selfish of me to say this, but… I just… I don't want to be just a chapter in that story. So I'm coming clean about it."

Because it was true, she wouldn't be able to take it if Alex was the one who broke her heart. This was different.

Whatever it was with Alex.

And the difference in where they were in life, what they both want, it was all too much and confusing and challenging.

But she does know what Kate said was true.

Because Maggie _definitely_ doesn't want to see Alex be with someone else.

She _definitely_ wanted to be Alex's _only_.

Alex nodded slowly, glassy brown eyes looking at her as she took a deep and shaky breath. She nervously smiled back at Maggie. "I think I should go." Alex then said.

Maggie nodded and released her grip on Alex's hand. A part of her still unsure if Alex heard her, _really heard her_ this time.

Alex looked uncertainly at Maggie before smiling again. She leaned in close and left a kiss on her cheek before leaving, making Maggie smile. Tears started to roll down her cheeks before she even realized it as she breathed a sigh of relief that Alex seemed to get it.

Maggie leaned back on her door and slid down to the floor, her hands tracing the bit of skin on her cheek where Alex had kissed her just seconds before.

A fleeting kiss she was now replaying in her mind as her emotions tightened her grip on her.

She wasn't expecting this, not when she first met Alex, not when

_Damn it Danvers, seriously, what have you done to me…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was supposed to be a Danvers sisters' night Alex POV of things at the end, but... it felt like it would better fit some other chapter (aka the next). Sorry 'bout that folks. I do hope you enjoy the update!
> 
> PPS: I only really post fics and links to fics on tumblr but if you need to reach out to me or have a personal request on the fic, you can always message me there, my url is thehypotensivegrad


	4. An Overture to a Grander Scheme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well wasn't this week's episode just… ah, Sanvers. They have a piece of my heart. Supercorp though has a good chunk of it. And I have to say, I miss Lena, I need Lena. Give me Lena Luthor (that said no POV for Lena this chapter but we'll have a few POVs from her in the next 2).
> 
> Anyways, here is chapter 4 with a prototype of cyborg superman (just cause…), some fluffy feelings (?), Danvers sisters bonding time, a mention of Guardian and J'onn's troubles, and the start of a three chapter mini-arc within the fic.

"And I just, I don't know." Alex said, slumping down Kara's couch after her continuous pacing. She had been recounting the whole encounter with Maggie hours earlier and how she feels about it.

Her _conflicted_ feelings about it.

On one hand, Alex was starting to see Maggie's point. She wasn't good at explaining herself, that's for sure, but she tried and good God, the way she makes her feel. Despite the pain, despite the hurt that she's been trying to process and move on from and let go. Despite crying herself to sleep in Kara's arms. Maggie had an effect on her that should really be illegal. She wants to be tough but she can't be. She cowers eventually, cracks showing on the tough exterior she tries to put up as Maggie's words got to her.

On the other, she should have really forced herself to voice out what she wanted to say. She tried, but she still should have made it loud and clear. Because despite the hope Maggie was trying to show, despite a promise of a possibility that could happen between them, it's not enough. Alex knew that. It wasn't enough.

Especially since her feelings for Maggie were the one thing she was absolutely crystal clear about in the most confusing time of her life. And whatever fear or insecurity Maggie was holding onto, if she really wanted Alex too, she had to take the plunge with her.

Because Alex sure was going to with this new chapter in her life.

And she would do so, with or without Maggie. She had just made that clear with Kara.

_But still preferably with Maggie._

Kara was patiently listening to her sister, letting her have the floor, and Alex was really thankful that Kara was a good listener. "Why don't you tell her all of that? Make her listen, _really_ make her listen?"

Alex took a deep breath and sighed. She turned to face Kara, her sister smiling at her supportively. "Look Alex, it's my duty as your sister to make sure that _whoever_ breaks your heart must pay dearly."

"Yeah, Kara, but – " Alex tried to say, interrupting Kara before Kara shut her down.

"No buts or excuses, Alex." Kara said adamantly. "But, by the sound of it, she definitely has feelings for you too." she continued to say. "And I'm most definitely not an expert on feelings, Alex, so all I can really say is the age old advice of following your heart. You have to be clear with her. You have to tell her what you want, how you feel. No waiting on the sidelines. Because Alex, you deserve the world."

Alex smiled, getting a little teary eyed. Kara pulled her in for another hug and she finally let a sob escape her chest. "You're growing wise." she managed to say, her breath a little shaky from trying to stop herself from getting emotional.

Truthfully, having Kara as her sister was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to her.

"I learned it all from my sister." Kara said with a smile before helping Alex wipe away a few tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. "But what were you doing at her apartment in the first place?"

"Oh, um… Mhmm." Alex hadn't really thought about telling Kara all about her suspicions on their visitor from Gotham but it couldn't be helped. Maggie seems to trust Kate Kane, and there seemed to be a reason behind all of the red flags Alex saw in her file, but trust needs to be earned. Until it is, she's always going to have doubts about the redhead and what she wants in National City.

That and well, J'onn still hadn't brought up the whole incident with the advance tech that helped them at the end of the day and why he's all grumpy about Kate. The secrecy too. One reason could simply be the nature of the cases she worked on the DEO. But honestly, Alex doesn't know. Most of them predated her being recruited as an agent.

She's also still not sure why J'onn would select a promising student at West Point turned socialite who knew nothing else but how to best spend her life lost weekending every day of the week.

"Alex?" Kara asked as she tried to figure out what was going on in her head.

"I'm a little suspicious of Katherine Kane."

"Oh Rao, Katherine Kane!" Kara then let out, clearly irked by the mention of her name.

This time it was Alex's turn to look at her sister curiously. "Do I get to find out what's up with that reaction?"

"It's just, I saw her earlier at Lena's office and…"

"Lena? As in Lena Luthor?" Alex tried to clarify. "You two are really becoming buddies, aren't you?" she asked warily. She gets that Kara was giving the CEO a shot, and technically she did help them twice now – first with the alien fight club and second with the initial wave of alien weaponry attacks – but that doesn't mean she's not going to be cautious of the woman. She was still a Luthor after all.

"She's not bad, Alex. She just… you shouldn't judge her for her family." Kara quickly said, defending her new friend.

"I'm not." was Alex's response. "But tell me about this encounter with Kane?"

"I don't know, something wasn't right. I couldn't tell what it was. She spilled a bottle of champagne on Lena's laptop because of her supposed state, what with three empty champagne bottles before noon, possibly more, but there was something off about how she moved, how she spoke and acted. Like everything was on purpose."

"I'm impressed by your powers of observation." Alex commented. "Now I'm not saying she wasn't inebriated, she had a reputation back in Gotham, or so I've heard. But what if you're right?" she asked Kara, because her sister _was_ right. Something doesn't add up. The DEO _wanted_ her to serve as an agent on some of their cases. She has skills, she has the background. But why waste time on someone who was a lost cause?

"What do you mean?" Kara asked her sister.

Alex sighed again. She's never kept a secret from Kara no matter how hard it was to tell her, not for long anyways, and she wasn't going to start doing it now.

* * *

It's been a week since Kara did her interview with Lena regarding the incident at L-Corp so she found it to be a pleasant surprise when she ran into her at a café near the tower that formerly belonged to Lord Technologies.

Kara was there for an assignment. Catherine Hamilton Kane, using her step-daughter as her ambassador of sorts, decided to expand their corporate headquarters to National City, setting up shop at what once used to be the building occupied by Lord Technologies. What, with the former CEO deciding on making a more permanent move for his company's base of operations, the space was free and the Hamiltons wanted it. From what Kara got from the latest digital edition of _The Daily Planet_ , the weapons company was also expanding their research and development labs at recently acquired spaces in Metropolis.

Kate Kane, true to her word, doesn't really seem to be too keen about doing actual work for this transition. It would be pure amazing luck if she got another interview with the heiress but she seemed to be really good at dodging journalists. This, despite her recent activities being flashed all over entertainment news and tabloids. The party girl of Gotham had a reputation to keep.

"Kara, it's been ages!" Lena greeted her, moving close for a hug that Kara wasn't expecting. Not that she was complaining, it was a nice surprise on top of already seeing Lena.

"Right. Sorry for not keeping touch, work's been busy and all." Kara excused just as soon as Lena let her go. Although the world-saving job she had was quite peaceful lately – the Guardian basically taking care of all the simple bank robberies and assault cases on the city, leaving Supergirl very much free to do whatever she wanted to do with her time – Kara wasn't exactly lying. Her job at Catco had been keeping her busy the past couple of days.

As for her free time, they were mostly spent with Alex trying to figure out the slightly suspicious actions of Kate Kane and training with Mon-El every now and then. Kara really wanted to make a hero out of him.

"Now just because you don't have any L-Corp related assignments doesn't mean you can't visit. You are free to come in anytime you want." Lena said. "I meant what I said before Kara."

"I know." Kara replied with a smile. "I just want to make sure that I'm not exactly interrupting anything with your work."

"You are too kind sometimes, and considerate." Lena replied. She reached out to Kara, wrapping her arms around her hand again just like that time they walked out of the L-Corp building for dinner. Except this time they were leaving a coffee shop. "Do you have time for lunch now? Catch up and all?"

"I still have to write my article on the expansion of the Hamilton arms company to National City, my boss wants it on his desk before the end of the work day. Ms. Grant wants it before the end of lunch." Kara answered truthfully and Lena couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, why don't you shoot them an email and tell them you're trying to close an interview with Katherine Kane?"

"I don't think she would let me. I can't even track her down."

"Oh, knowing Kate, she might just be busy lost weekending somewhere in the city. I can try to reach out to her, and I'm sure she will agree if I tell her that you're the one doing the interview." Lena went on before her she adopted a more serious look. "But not without getting something out of it…" she said as an afterthought, sounding a little irritated at what Kate might try to get out of an interview with Kara.

And there it was again, the shift, the change in Lena's tone. The one that told Kara she was being protective of her.

Maybe even a little possessive.

And Kara wasn't going to lie and pretend that it didn't make her feel good in the slightest. She liked the thought that Lena Luthor wanted to look out for her.

"I'm sure I can arrange something with her." she said with a mischievous look in her eyes. "That and I'm pretty sure she still owes me for something, I just can't remember what."

"That's really kind of you Lena, but I don't know…" Kara replied, unsure of what she wanted. "What if I show up empty handed? Ms. Grant would be displeased." On one hand, she knew she just couldn't say no to Lena. It's been a month or so since the CEO moved to the city for a fresh start and already the two have formed a close bond. Kara would be lying if she said she wanted to turn down Lena's offer. But then again, she was making great progress with her new life as a reporter. Snapper is still tough on her, true, and Cat demanding as always, but she was slowly but surely earning respect from her coworkers, paying her dues and making a name for herself. More than that, on some days, Cat is actually starting to call her by her name. She could tell that her mentor was proud of what she was starting to accomplish for herself, and Kara most definitely doesn't want to let Cat Grant down.

"Have lunch with me anyways. If it's Cat Grant you're worried about, I can easily take care of that with an L-Corp exclusive of our next event."

"But Lena, I-" Kara started to protest, she can't abuse her friendship with Lena like that, even when Lena was the one offering her something to help her with her work.

"Come on Kara, please? I haven't seen you in the longest and you're one of my only friends in National City. The other one is most probably passed out drunk right now." Lena said, cutting her short.

And what could Kara do? She may be Supergirl, girl of steel and all, but at that moment all her strength had failed her. What with _the Lena Luthor_ throwing an adorable pout at her, who was she to say no? How could she even try?

Kara caved and nodded, Lena giving her the brightest smile Kara has ever seen the CEO have.

"Wait, you said Kate may still owe you one, right? Did she ever replace your laptop?"

"Oh yes, Jess is using it now. I bought a new one myself." Lena replied. "But in the length of time I knew her, I'm sure I can ask her a favor if not pull out some old I.O.U from her." she added with a wink.

* * *

"I have to say, I see the appeal of the location. This is definitely the best rooftop I've ever been on top of at National City." Kate said making her way to the ledge of the rooftop helipad on Maxwell Lord's old building. "Sorry to keep you waiting, I wanted to meet with you when I have something to actually say, and even though I still don't, your threat of telling my step-mom about my extra-curricular activities is enough of a motivation. I _do_ need the benefits of being an heiress to an arms company after all."

J'onn sighed. "You know Ms. Kane, when you have your hair up like that, dressed like an actual CEO like Ms. Luthor over at L-Corp, and when you discard the drunken act, you can convince anyone that you have the makings of a pretty decent person." he retorted, his tone not giving away anything. "Sarcasm aside."

This time it was Kate who chuckled. "You know, you were right director Henshaw, I did miss you're rhetoric. Or should I say J'onn? I hear you're sticking with your real name now?" Kate replied. She stopped short right in front of the last son of Mars, both of them still trying to figure out whatever it was going on in each other's head.

J'onn chuckled and shook his head. "You never changed. Serious in the night when you're running around rooftops, witty and flirtatious in the day when you need to sell the act." he let out and Kate simply shrugged.

It _was_ the truth.

J'onn reached out a hand to shake hers and Kate accepted. She was never really sure about what kind of relationship they had, if they were friends or just acquaintances. Granted, the only reason why Kate relented to working for the DEO during her short tenure was because of the nature of the case they were handling and that she was being blackmailed to. In truth, the two have formed a mutual respect for each other.

Despite their usual disagreements on which course of action would be best with regards to a select set of circumstances.

"You should have decided to stay on with the DEO. Especially when you're going to end up helping us out every now and then, it would be better use of your time." J'onn then said before handing Kate the device she used to disable the alien tech those thugs that attacked L-Corp had on them.

"I prefer my freelancing gig." Kate replied before turning to smile at J'onn. "Go on, ask it. Ask why I'm here."

"Why _are_ you here?" J'onn asked. "Personal reasons? Personal missions?"

"More of a request from an old friend. He has his hands full at the moment with the return of the clown prince of crime at Gotham."

"Isn't he dead?" J'onn asked showing genuine curiosity.

"Yeah, apparently he's not." Kate replied with a frown. She'd really rather be in Gotham right now to help her fight for her city, but Bruce managed to drive the point to her that this was far more important. An enemy respected by every criminal out there, including her mentor and friend's longtime adversary, was a far more important threat to fight. "Anyways…" she then said, shaking off any thoughts of what could be going on in Gotham at the moment to focus on other pressing matters. "My friend thinks that I could be Supergirl's version of a 'many gadgets, even more demons' friend and ally since the man of steel has him."

"Why?" J'onn asked wryly.

"Ah, like I said, still don't have much to say on that. I'd rather come to you about it when I have information you can actually use, but right now it's more detective work." Kate said, looking out at the city. Her voice started to adopt a more serious tone, dropping the act that was her life as Kate Kane, the heiress and socialite.

"What is this about?" J'onn asked, growing more and more impatient by the minute.

Kate took a deep breath, admiring the serene view of the city. National City wasn't like Gotham. It was sunny, bright and warm. Gotham was dark, twisted, cracked and chipped. National City had Supergirl to protect it, a goddess as radiant as the sun. Gotham had the Dark Knight and his allies, imperfect and broken. Kate wished she could turn Gotham into something like National City. But the fight was hard and tiring. The nights were long and never ending in Gotham. It was like her city was doing its best to fight the disease, live another day, clean up its streets and live in the light of day.

Yep, Kate wished Gotham was like National City.

And she was sure she'll do anything in her power to make sure National City doesn't fall ill like Gotham.

Or for that matter, doesn't become tainted like Metropolis when Lex Luthor gained power and stained it with his hatred and hunger.

"I'm waiting, Ms. Kane." J'onn said.

Kate sighed. "Cadmus." she said, the word itself a lengthy explanation.

* * *

The day kept turning out in ways Kara couldn't even expect.

Kara was sure that her late return to Catco would actually get her fired – by Snapper at the very least – thanks to her rather long lunch with Lena. It couldn't be helped, hours seem to just slip by seamlessly whenever she was with Lena. She did, however, come back triumphant with a promise of an interview with Kate Kane.

That and the promise of an L-Corp exclusive that Lena threw in anyways when she walked Kara back to her office. Snapper was all but ready to start yelling at Kara when she explained that it was all to set-up an interview for her article. Snapper wasn't exactly going to back down to such a weak explanation for a four hour lunch break even when Lena threw in the offer of the exclusive. Cat Grant, however, had overheard the conversation and while she most definitely was eyeing Lena suspiciously, she nevertheless accepted the deal.

Article almost finished and most of her work of the day aside, Kara found herself floating around National City that night as Supergirl. Sure, National City wasn't perfect, it had its share of problems, but it was still _her_ city, to protect, defend, and love. Crime was at an all-time low that night, the whole week really, and Kara was allowed to fly around the city in peace.

"Supergirl." she then heard Alex's voice in her earpiece just as the sound of gunshots were breaking the veil of peace that had shrouded the city.

"I'm on in it." Kara replied, wasting no time at all to get to where she was needed.

Guardian was already there, minimizing the damages of the ongoing attack, the police right in the thick of things. "What the…" Kara found herself saying at the sight of a literal man of steel.

He had black hair, blue eyes – well eye, considering half his face was that of a terminator's – almost the splitting image of Kal-El from one side, especially with the blue overall he was wearing. Kara sped past the running crowd just as the assailant threw a car out at them. Supergirl easily caught it, setting it aside and helping the frightened passenger inside to get to safety. The new vigilante was trying to keep the bystanders safe in the meantime, shielding them from whatever the cyborg kept throwing at them.

At a closer distance, Kara realized that he looked more like the astronaut from Metropolis featured on the news about a few months ago. They said he was one of the crew members who died in the space shuttle that was hit by a solar flare.

The cyborg soon turned his sights on Supergirl, running at full speed towards her. Kara was ready by the time he reached her, the two exchanging blows all while Kara was trying to process what on earth was going on. The cyborg was able to meet her blows, he was able to almost match her speed and strength.

The man had cybernetic parts to his body, his breathing sounding rather mechanical, but at some areas where some of Kara's punches landed he was still flesh and blood.

He was an imperfect creation. A prototype, although Kara didn't know that.

What Kara was mostly concerned about was who would do such a thing to someone.

Kara, "Who did this to you?" Kara found herself asking but all she heard was some disgruntled grunt, like it was a cry of pain.

And Kara could only imagine what kind of pain the man was actually in.

The cyborg rushed for one last attack and Kara met him with her freeze breath, stopping him in place. The DEO soon came with their agents to assist Kara still horrified that a man who had died, or was dying, was used as someone's play thing, experimented on and turned into a kind of robotic Frankenstein.

"Cadmus?" Alex asked with a serious tone.

"Who knows?" Kara replied knowing that they might very well be the ones behind it.

_But why?_

* * *

Supergirl had left the scene, leaving only the agents to clean up after the mess. Even the new vigilante in town had disappeared, his help no longer needed.

"The prototype worked well, you should be proud doctor." Lillian Luthor said over the phone. "However, we still need to address a few issues with our main unit. Be sure to note everything you need from the beta test."

She smiled, taking a deep breath and ended the call soon after telling her driver to go. It was a small step to achieving their goals, but a step nonetheless and Lillian Luthor was nothing if not patient.

They had what they needed for now.

* * *

It's been two days since she met with J'onn and Kate was pouring all her nights into cracking the code that was the information she's gathered so far on Cadmus and figuring out the exact locations of Cadmus' many labs. While she knew only twenty three – twenty two now – were left active by Lex, their ties to research facilities operating legally made it harder to pinpoint which was which. Thorul for one had many labs just outside of National City alone. Many others were just like it. All, however, were still tied to L-Corp.

Analyzing the hard drives of Lena's old laptop was useless. And the laptop she implanted with the device that would allow for Oracle to access any tech used around the building didn't turn up much evidence. Bruce once said that Lex was thorough and careful. He was cunning and smart. He had to have files, designs, notes, records, anything really, on his plans. Basics at the very least.

And it would very much unlike him not to pass it on to some successor he trusted, that he could rely on.

Because Lex Luthor was a genius not to be underestimated and anyone who believed that he was never prepared for the occasion that he might be imprisoned was a fool.

Kate wants to believe Lena was an innocent in all of it, but of all the years she's known the Luthors, she knew it all boiled down to her.

She could ask for Lena's help as a direct approach, but it would be an incredibly huge risk. At the very least, it could cost them their friendship, something she truly does treasure.

Or she could try to get the information she needed as slyly as she could. But she also knew how that could terribly backfire. Lena wasn't a fan of lying and sneaking around, not that she hasn't stretched the truth to Lena in the past already.

J'onn also offered help from the DEO but with the recent attack of the cyborgs two nights ago prompting its own investigation and J'onn starting to have hallucinations of sort, Kate knew they had their hands full.

"I think I made some progress." she heard Oracle's, Barbara's, voice through the computers in her little secret lair. "I'm sending the info to you now, if anything it lessens the number of labs whose locations we can't pinpoint the location. I know Batman wants to prioritize finding where Project 13 is but doing a bit of kryptonite spring cleaning could only help in the long run."

"How'd you find them?" Kate asked, reading the list of locations, three of which were Thorul lab facilities on opposite ends of National City.

"These labs seem to focus on alien experiments. I traced back something from Maxwell Lord's own activities the first time Supergirl popped up. The information and materials he needed to make his own batch of synthetic red kryptonite came from those three facilities. Digging up further, I found some ties with Roulette's illegal fight club. Some of the aliens who can no longer fight were discreetly transported to these places."

"Good job Oracle. I'll get on this as quickly as I can, duty calls." Kate then replied, turning to see the news flash on three of her monitors in her lair.

"What's going on? Suiting up? Need any assistance?"

"No worries, I've got it. The new vigilante in town, Guardian, is suspected of murder and the police are after him, they're currently releasing a statement about it. Supergirl, in the mean time, seems to be responding to an attack near Catco."

"Attack?"

"A new cyborg I think, they're not sure if it was the same one Supergirl caught, froze really, two nights ago." Kate replied. "And I might just. National City's getting a little riled up lately. Besides, human experimentation is also right up Cadmus' ally."

"Good luck out there. Call if you need backup."

"Will do." Kate replied and spun her chair around before getting up from it. She took the few steps between her main computer unit and stopped inches away from the case in front of her, placing a hand on the glass just above the red bat symbol that was her shield.

* * *

It was the second one, the second cyborg in two nights, although the latest one was apparently more robot that human, as Kara commented.

Alex monitored what was happening, taking over command from J'onn. The two of them decided that it was for the best he lay low for a while until they figure out what was going on with him, especially after his little incident with one of the agents where he thought he was a White Martian.

Maggie was touching base with her with the Guardian case too. Her and Winn who was secretly making sure the detective doesn't find out Guardian's identity. The whole thing was just another headache to deal with, really, but Winn did say he knows where the real killer was going to strike next and Maggie thankfully listened to her despite the sketchy non-explanation she gave her.

Right after giving her a piece of her mind.

Maggie promised to do what she can to not arrest the new vigilante as well as made it clear to Alex that she _does_ in fact like her and want to figure things out between them _with_ her.

The conversation was cut short though by the current emergencies popping everywhere at once when help was running scarce. Really, Alex's last resort to help was Mon-El and the Daxamite was more interested in attempting to get drunk at the dive bar.

"Got him pinned down at an alley two blocks away from Catco, Alex." she then heard Kara say through her com.

"Pinned down?" Alex asked almost sounding amused.

"Okay, fine, more like merged with two dumpsters? I may have used my heat-vision on him a little."

"Copy that Supergirl, sending back up now."

"Thanks Agent Da-" Kara replied before the sound what was cut off.

"Kara?" Alex repeated, a dark feeling of foreboding setting in the pits of her stomach.

"Kara, do you hear me?" Alex repeated, sounding a little more anxious.

But she was only met by silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: The version of Hank Henshaw in the comics was an astronaut so the above was my throw for the prototype Cyborg Superman here :P That said, I may or may not have grander schemes for Cyborg Superman for later chapters… it may or may not involve Alex… so hang tight!
> 
> PPS: Comment on 2x07: Uh… exposure to lead is lethal to Daxamites, they only need to be exposed once… to survive, they'll need constant dosages of anti-lead serum… that or stay at the phantom zone (or something like that, I can't remember correctly)… bottom line, nope, just, no, Kara doesn't need another guy potential love interest… especially when we have Lena!


	5. Everyone Needs a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie receives a message from an old ally; Kate tries to get answers from Lena and proceeds to investigate Cadmus' secret labs; Alex rushes to figure out who took her sister and how to save her; the DEO gets clued in about the twenty-three labs; Kara wakes up at a secret facility, trying to piece together what happened to her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here is chapter 5 with the part two of this Cyborg Superman mini arc. I may have made assumptions that Lex and Superman/Clark were best friends at one point a la Smallville, I mean, Lillian Luthor basically confirmed it last ep. Also, for the purpose of this fic, I made Lena and Kate bffs at some point too (since she became an heiress). I was thinking they'll get along well what with Lena being adopted into the wealthy family and Kate becoming an heiress because of her father's marriage to her step-mom.

"Danvers, what happened?" Maggie asked, rushing through the number of agents already at the scene. The cyborg was currently being taken away into the back of a huge truck, still merged with the two dumpsters Kara got him stuck between and all. Alex looked winded, she sounded anxious on the phone when she called for help and Maggie was already expecting a serious looking Alex on the field, no nonsense and all business, but she was not expecting this.

She didn't expect Alex looking so worried and panic-stricken, currently holding a DEO standard issue ear-piece, twisting and turning it in her hand. "Supergirl. She's missing." Alex eventually said in reply, her voice cool, her words carefully chosen.

Alex had been very good at keeping up the cool, calm, collected demeanor she usually wore. It was one of the things that made her a really good agent, as Maggie had the pleasure of finding out first hand. She was quick to her feet with making decisions and she remained a steady and reliable hand even in the face of danger.

None of that applied to Alex Danvers right now. The shaky breath, Alex fidgeting, her inability to look Maggie in the eye, all of it were tell-tale signs of what's going on deep inside her. She wanted to keep up the act, but it was all breaking through. The worry, the fears that were taking hold of her that moment. Maggie wasn't blind to see that not only did they work together, Supergirl was also very important to her.

And a part of her was tiny bit jealous of that.

But Maggie shrugged it off, buried it deep within herself. Alex needed someone to help her keep her composure, someone to help find Supergirl, and Maggie was more than willing to give that help.

"What can I do?" Maggie asked, adopting a serious tone herself. Her eyes were looking at Alex, conveying unspoken words.

_I'm here for you Danvers, let me help._

Alex took a deep breath to steady herself. "When we got here, we saw a figure through the shadows. I followed suit as far as the rooftop of that building." Alex explained, nodding towards the structure to their left. "I used the fire escape that I had access through the end of this alley. Didn't get much of a glimpse but whoever it was didn't stop even when I gave a warning shot or two. But definitely skillful if not with abilities because the gap between the ledge of the building here to the next is huge and whoever it was jumped the distance with ease."

"You think this person had something to do with Supergirl disappearing?" Maggie asked, her mind already trying to piece together who it could have been.

"I don't know Maggie." Alex replied, a bit on edge. "But we're going to find out soon enough. Can you get in touch with your sources at the dive bar? See if they know anything about who could possibly want Sueprgirl, or who could possibly want to experiment on humans."

"See if anyone's an evil genius alien?" Maggie asked.

Alex took another deep breath. "Let me know anything you find anything." was all Alex gave out as a reply. There was a sense of urgency in her voice.

Maggie nodded. She wasn't going to let Alex down. She wasted no time in tracking down the person she knew could provide the most answers. She didn't need to go far, two blocks away she saw a brief flash of light on the road she was on. Maggie stopped, there it was again, a quick flash of light with the symbol she knew all too well.

"What is this all about?" Maggie asked as soon as she reached the rooftop, spotting the familiar figure hiding behind the shadows the darkness of night had provided. "And are you bleeding!?" she added, noting the droplets of blood that trailed towards one of the female crime fighters of Gotham.

"Long story, no time for that right now. Short story, Lex Luthor's still ongoing projects, currently carried out by Cadmus, some – one in particular – pose tremendous threats against the world if we don't stop him. Cadmus, they have Supergirl right now." Batwoman, Kate, replied. "And it's just a graze but your girlfriend almost got me."

"Lex Luthor is in jail… how can he… Never mind." Maggie replied trying to process the information and sighed. "And Alex isn't my girlfriend. It's not even the right time to discuss anything like that right now."

"Could have fooled me." Kate replied in a straightforward and simple manner. "Here." she then said, handing Maggie a small tablet and an earpiece. "You know where the DEO is, right? J'onn already knows what's up. Tell him we figured out the location of five of the twenty two labs still in operation, three of them are just outside the city. I'll update you with anything new. I have a feeling they took Supergirl to one of those labs."

"Why don't you just take this to them yourself?" Maggie asked, still trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but Kate was in a rush which means this whole business is definitely urgent. "Wait, Batwoman!"

Kate stopped, and turned slightly just at the edge of the ledge of the rooftop. "The tablet has the map, they are all on opposite sides of the city. It also has blueprints of the labs, although it's not complete. At least I assume it isn't. All lab spaces are currently being used as they are reported but we have substantial evidence to suspect these places are conducting illegal experiments on both humans and aliens. If we move in now without knowing the complete ins and outs, Cadmus can potentially move. Especially when they realize we know the location of their National City labs. One or two of them were built over locations for an abandoned underground railway system, tunnels they can use to move without suspicion. If they get wind of us, they might move Supergirl out too. I don't know what they have planned for her, but I'd rather not lose track of our female Kryptonian." she replied. "I'm making a quick pit-stop to hopefully get some answers, anything we can use, before I head up to one of them myself. Again, I'll update you through the tablet with any info I find. Tell Agent Danvers to be prepared for anything, including kryptonite, all kinds of it."

"Kryptonite?" she asked but Kate gave no reply. "You owe me an explanation when this is over." Maggie then said and Kate smiled. She could already imagine the look she had under her cowl.

"I'll owe you anything you want." Kate replied. "Go now, and hurry!" she added before disappearing into the night.

Maggie kept the small tablet close to her as she made her way to the DEO.

* * *

They said diamonds were formed under extreme pressures and Lena Luthor believed herself to be a diamond. Tough and beautiful, strong and brilliant.

So she's been used to it all, the expectations, the pressures, and the reality of being a Luthor.

Her mother has only been in town for two weeks, at least, based on her own knowledge, and already she's demanding the impossible, trying to take control of the company behind the scenes. The power struggle was real, especially when her mom commanded such respect. Each time she second guessed Lena's movements caused doubt from the board members, and it shifted the power to her very easily. Every time Lena played by her rules, the 'power' stayed with her and she was respected and treated well.

The thing with being a Luthor that many people failed to understand was that it gave you the freedom to do whatever you want and get away with it. That is, as long as you obey the hand that feeds. The one who holds the leash.

It was a kind of freedom with a very steep price.

"Ms. Luthor." she heard the voice. The whole building had lost power very briefly, prompting Lena to look around the darkness that had surrounded her. She had been doing a bit of work on the couch in her office, a glass of scotch in hand when it happened.

Lena wasn't afraid of the dark, not the physical manifestation of it at least. She was more afraid of the darkness that hid deep inside people's hearts.

But she had to admit, hearing a voice so coolly whisper her name had set her on edge. There was no sign of anyone trying to gain entry to her office and suddenly she wasn't alone.

The lights went on, but not completely, leaving half of her office still in the dark. Lena didn't need to scan the room for long to find the source of the voice. By the balcony, plunged in the shadows the dimly lit space she was in had produced, was a woman dressed in black equipped with a flowing black cape and matching cowl, red head had graced her crown, matching the red bat symbol on her chest. For a minute or two, Lena let the sight sink in, giving time for herself to gather her thoughts. "I've heard the bat vigilante in Gotham didn't work alone. But you're a long way from home." Lena finally managed to say, her voice dropping low, an edge to her tone.

She will not be frightened by a human vigilante.

"I am where I'm needed." Batwoman had replied.

"Don't crime fighters like yourself have your own cities to protect? This city is Supergirl's, go home to Gotham. Or is there anything you need from me, Batwoman?"

"Ms. Luthor, I'm well aware of your brother's activities." Batwoman started to say.

"Doesn't everyone?" Lena interjected.

"I'm also well aware of the close relationship you two foster."

"Do you not read the papers, or are human bats also blind? My brother tried to kill me. Possibly twice." Lena replied, she was not going to back down. An anger was starting to rise inside of her.

This intrusion could only lead in one direction.

The suspicions, the accusations, what else?

It was a part of being a Luthor now. Even those who trusted her, even those she trusted herself, they were bound to do it. Lena could feel the shaky grounds of trust move beneath her feet for years now, she was starting to get used to the ride really.

Even the inevitable fall.

Gravity was very unforgiving after all.

"We both know that wasn't the purpose of his actions." her intruder replied.

Lena chuckled darkly but before she could say anything else, Batwoman spoke up. "I know Ms. Luthor. I've done my homework. I know you've visited you're brother. I know you haven't exactly given up on him, and I know that he hasn't given up on you either. You're the one person Lex Luthor truly cares about."

"I reserve the right to disagree." Lena said, setting her files aside and approaching her desk. She didn't want it to show, but her intruder's words were starting to get to her.

It was true.

She saw Lex once in prison – perks of having the right connections – and if it did anything else, it only proved how far gone her brother was. She was trying to pull him back, he was trying to pull him into the madness with him.

And what she found, it may be madness to ordinary people, but it was brilliance to those who understood, those who can appreciate the genius behind some of Lex's visions.

But those pictures were tainted now, tainted by the blood on his hands and his hatred of a man who was once his best friend.

So Lena planned to adopt them, change them for good, especially for his ideas that have merits. She wanted to give them new life just as she started a new one for herself. It was promising so far. The new city, the new friend – because there was ever only one willing enough to give her the chance – and all of the promising new days.

But even that, she knew, could easily crumble just because on where she stands.

She reached her desk, her hands feeling the smoothness of the white metallic surface. It soothed her, made her feel she was in control, that she wasn't being interrogated.

"What do you want?" she finally managed to ask, still keeping her cool.

"Your brother, he still has power even behind bars. And his experiments still go on. I know Ms. Luthor, I know you know something. Lex is a complex man. He would have someone he needed to trust to work for him, _with him_. He would need someone as his eyes and ears. Someone who could be him while he was away. And who better than his darling sister? The one who can follow his footsteps. The one who could shape up to be just like him. You care about him and I know how much family loyalty runs deep to the Luthors, he would want you to be on his team."

"All you're saying are your own speculations." Lena spat out, trying to keep her voice low. Her eyes were steady on her desk, she couldn't find the strength to look at her accuser. "You know nothing."

"I've been paying close attention to before your move to National City, he's been trying to reach out to you, stay in contact." was the reply she got.

"What I get from that is you've been following me since Metropolis." was Lena's reply. "What is it with you heroes and your obsessions with proving yourself right about criminals and the people who surround them?" she spat out.

"That's not why I'm here Ms. Luthor. I'm here on a mission. Some of your labs are being used right now by your brother and the people who stay loyal to him. They are using those labs to hurt people, innocent people, aliens, everyone. This fight with him is not over, it may never be. And you're right, this is not my city but Supergirl's, and she needs you, now more than ever." Batwoman said.

Funny, Lena thought, the whole impassioned speech could have had her fooled that that the woman before her actually cared about what Lex could be up to... about her and how she was affected by Lex's actions.  The man had buried her along with their family name – a cross she now bears – to the pits of hell. She's been doing everything in her power to climb back up ever since.

Not that there wasn't any truth in her words either.

"His efforts to try to get you to his side may prove to be valuable now. Ms. Luthor, please. We need access to these labs at the most crucial points, otherwise we miss our chance. Thorul Labs is a subsidiary to your company, you have three facilities just outside of National City. All operating legally, but we have reason to believe that there are more devious things happening in its shadows. We've traced some of the aliens who participated in Roulette's illegal fight club dropped off near the premises of one of them. Files recovered from your facility in the arctic also points to some projects that coincides perfectly well with some of Lex's earlier works, some which are linked to these three locations. Anything you know, any information that you have, can help us."

Lena shook her head. "If you really think I'm working with my brother then why are you here?" It was an obvious question, but it was true. Batwoman, she's been active for only a few years based on Lex's files, at least compared to Superman, and Batman and some of his allies – because of course her brother kept tabs on his enemies, current and potential ones – and it shows. It shows because she couldn't mask how much she cared at the moment. She was supposed to be well disciplined, well-trained to keep emotions out of this. Built up experience from undocumented missions and assignments should only reinforce that. But she cared. Otherwise, why try to reason with the person you were already painting as a villain if you didn't? 

Lena's tried saving one and she's failed.

And in truth she wasn't sure if she hated Lex or Superman more for the pain and hurt she felt. Lex for abandoning her in pursuit of great power, a chance to play God. Superman with his God-like abilities, bestowing Lex with his madness simply by existing. Simply by drawing him more and more to a world of possibilities he was better off not tasting.

"Because I'm taking a gamble on you Ms. Luthor. Lena." was her reply and the softness in the response almost caught Lena off guard. "I know _you_. I know how hard you try to please the people that matter to you. I know that even when you hate them with a passion or you're angry you still find ways of showing you love them. You still forgive and you bear it all, the consequences, the pain. Please don't let anyone turn you into something you're not."

Lena's hand was trembling now. She really didn't know how to feel. Hurt? Betrayed with all the accusations? Anger? Frustration? She was being pulled at the seams of the things she were trying to escape. Of the things she wished could just be over and pass her by.

She never asked to be a Luthor.

But she _was_ one.

"I'm gambling with my life because the stakes are much higher than anything else I have to lose. And I'm betting it all on you. And I know Supergirl would take the same bet." she said, the tone of her voice adopting something more familiar now.

She wasn't lying. She really was gambling. She was taking the risk despite years of training, despite every instinct of her body telling her that, and Lena knew.

She saw the mask of Batwoman's cowl slide towards her. She didn't need to look up to see who it was. The red hair was a dead giveaway.

The accumulated scars and bruises over the years didn't help in keeping the secret either. And Katherine Kane tried to explain it all – very convincingly too – but Lena knew her too well. She was too smart to fall for the lies, carefully constructed or not.

She thought this was it, the moment it all falls, when she loses yet another person in her life and for some stupid reason Lex was tied to it too. That Kate would turn her back on her, spy on her, believe the worst.

But never did she see this moment happen the way it did. And in a way, it made Lena feel guilty she even thought about the worst happening. Perhaps it was how she was raised, her upbringing with Lex, the dark and doubt-filled atmosphere that threatened to consume all that she held dear.

"I'm being an idiot now, I know, but you took a gamble on me when I was all but broken myself and had no purpose, one of the few people really. Tried fixing me because you just don't give up on people, because you saw something still worth saving in me. You became my one friend because I was me, not because of what my new position in society entitled me to have… Please Lena, I… no, not even me... Don't do this for me, you've already done enough. Do this for _her_. They have _her_. And the clock is ticking."

Lena snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face Kate. "You couldn't have opened with that?" Lena asked, trying to still keep the mask of indifference on her face. She moved around her table, hands still trembling and pulled out a crystal looking flash drive. "Everything you need to know about my labs in National City. Although you seem to know a lot already." she said, tossing the drive to her before sliding the mask back. Kate caught it with ease and hooked it up to some mini-tablet device she had on her before wearing her mask once more. The information loaded quickly as indicated by a beeping sound.

"Find _her_." Lena said simply. "I'm holding you responsible if anything happens to her."

"You really care about her, don't you?" Kate commented as she made her way out towards Lena's balcony but the CEO gave no reply. She knew the look on her face gave it all away anyways. "I will." she heard Kate said before she disappeared.

Lena nodded and looked away. The weight of the world crashing down on her as soon as Kate left.

The decisions she had to make casting a heavy shadow over life.

And, at least for the next few minutes, she let it all collapse.

She was tired of being a Luthor.

She just wanted to be Lena.

And Lena was very much worried of what _they_ might do to Supergirl.

* * *

"Alex, breathe." J'onn had said. As soon as he heard Supergirl's missing, no one could force any kind of rest on him. The hallucinations have stopped, at least momentarily, and his hand tremors were under control. Alex was left to find comfort in only that. "We'll find Kara."

Alex nodded. She was still very antsy. If this was Cadmus… if they were behind those experiments on the human cyborgs that they had to deal with… and with that incident with John Corben… yes Alex was the very definition of afraid of what they might do to Supergirl. To Kara. To her sister.

"Danvers!" she heard Maggie call out as she ran towards their control room.

"Maggie, what are you doing here? Did you find something?" Alex immediately asked all while the detective was nodding along. Maggie felt for something in her inner jacket pocket, producing a small tablet in her hand. She turned to look over at Winn, then J'onn, and finally Alex, not sure to who she should hand the tablet.

"Mr. Schott, if you would please." J'onn finally said, and Winn immediately reached for the tablet and connected it to their system, pulling up the information on the screen.

"What is this?" Alex asked, reading the list of coordinates and still unidentified locations. There was a beeping sound and it automatically updated with blue prints of labs around National City and a series of underground tunnels that connected them. "Where did you get this?" Alex then followed up, turning to Maggie.

"I had a source." Maggie simply replied.

"Is this what I think this is, Detective Sawyer?" J'onn then asked.

"Uh, maybe, yeah. It's essentially a list of locations on Lex Luthor's remaining active labs that Cadmus is running. Form what my source said they're running illegal experiments and were keeping large amounts of kryptonite so we should all be prepared by that."

So it _was_ Cadmus.

And they have kryptonite.

Apparently they also worked for – with? – Lex Luthor.

Which really only increased the sense of urgency that was pulsing through Alex each passing minute. They already have her father, now they have Kara too, and who knows what kind of monstrosity their planning to do.

"Did you say kryptonite?" Winn then asked shocked. "But I thought we… I thought Superman took care of the last of it?"

"Apparently they have all kinds, whatever that means." Maggie then said with a shrug and Alex can tell she has no clear picture of what's going on. She turned to look at Alex, adopting a more somber look. "My source said that Supergirl was most likely taken into one of those labs. Alex, I'm not sure what's going on but I don't like the sound of Supergirl and kryptonite together in one sentence. It just spells trouble for me."

"It does." was all Alex could muster, a feeling of dread setting in.

A feeling she pushing hard against because no, she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Kara.

Not on her watch.

"There are three labs, do you have any clue which one of them Supergirl is in specifically?" J'onn asked.

"No." Maggie replied honestly.

"Winn? Can you pick up any traces of kryptonite radiation? If they have Supergirl then they definitely used it."

"No, I already tried that earlier. Although the crime scene from before definitely had a lot of it. Like the definition of a lot. But it disappeared just outside the alley."

"So no clue which direction they're going then?" Mon-El asked, popping up out of nowhere. "Is there anything that can cut off kryptonite radiation here?"

"Any news on the streets?" Alex asked him quickly before Winn could reply but Mon-El shook his head.

"Yes, that would be lead. And yes, that's possible." Winn said through gritted teeth, eyeing Maggie who was in the middle of it all. Maggie though, didn't seem to be paying much attention. Alex noted the earpiece she had, making her wonder who her _source_ was.

"The smallest one up north has an extensive labyrinth like layout of the tunnels for the abandoned railway system. It also had the least active research going on, that's the most likely place Supergirl would be in. The last two of the three are to the southeast and the southwest of the city though… there were spiked increases in radiation incidents and power outages over the last two months." Maggie then said, the _source_ undoubtedly feeding her information.

"If we attack only one of the labs, they can just move the other ones and set-up shop elsewhere and we might miss Supergirl. If they're intending to do anything… anything as horrible as those cyborg super-powered men..."

"Cyborg supermen?" Winn then brought up. "Oh, Cyborg Superman!"

"Note the appropriate time for naming." Alex then said through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to smack him in the head. "I'm taking the facility in the north. If K- If Supergirl is there, that's where I'll be." She added.

"I'm coming with you." J'onn instantly replied.

"No. You'll need to take charge with one of the other two…" Alex started to say before looking around. With her and J'onn taking care of the other two, they needed someone they can trust to take the lead for the third.

And it wasn't helping that J'onn wants to be there for Alex.

"I'll go with you." Maggie then said, facing Alex, concern written all over her face. "You'll need back up, and I know you have your agents, but I want to have your back, got it Danvers? I want to make sure you'll be okay."

"I'll go on the other team." Mon-El then said, looking like he was trying to weigh his options before repeating what he said resolutely. "I don't have to take charge but in case we need someone on each team with an ability to stop the unknown..."

"Mon-El…" Alex muttered.

"I'll do it. I can do it." he then repeated.

J'onn took a deep breath. "That's settled then. Let's get ready. There's no time to waste." he said before his DEO director-mode took full control and started arranging the teams.

He was right, there was no time to waste.

* * *

Kara wasn't sure what was going on. The only thing she knew was that her head hurt.

Like really, _really_ hurt.

Kara woke up in a cage of sort. She was still feeling weak, like she was exposed to an unhealthy dose of kryptonite.

Right. She was!

She remembers talking to Alex and then suddenly feeling weak.

She was on the ground and then… then something hit her from behind…

The next time she came to, she was on a table lined with straps lined with green kryptonite too. There was something on her face… like a hospital gas mask of sort. A light was flashing brightly above her head, then there was a woman… a woman she could have sworn she had seen somewhere before but she was having trouble placing where…

Blood.

She saw the woman take blood. Her blood. All while saying something about her daughter, about her son…

And then she got knocked off again.

Kara coughed a little while trying to stand up, it felt like she was tasting poison in her mouth at the very moment. A thought had crept into her mind that _they_ – Cadmus, she assumed – had managed to find a way to aerosolize the green rock and that she might have inhaled some.

If not, then they definitely tested some materials they could couple with it to drug her with while being exposed to it.

She made her way towards the metal bars of the cage. No kryptonite, or at least Kara wasn't feeling its effects, but she found that she couldn't quiet bend it. The metal was unbreakable.

Which meant she couldn't super strength her way out of this one.

Her com was missing too, no contact for back up then.

_Come on Danvers, think. You need to use your wits to get out for a change._

From somewhere in the darkened room she could hear the sounds of doors opening and footsteps coming closer. Much closer by the minute.

She had to escape. That was Kara's one thought. With that, she resumed her prior position, pretended to still be out and remained alert.

She wasn't going to let her chance to simply slip and pass her by.

* * *

"That was a risk move." Kate heard Oracle through her com. She was riding through the night using her motorcycle. As black as night with a red bat on her front fairing.

"Yeah, but we take risks for people we care about." she replied. "I already lost a sister once, it was a very traumatic experience as you would know – what with her apparently not being dead and having tried to kill me – and I'm not sure if I'll ever have the power to win her back to the right side. So no, I'm not going to lose the closest thing I have to one this time around."

There was a silence that followed, Oracle keeping her thoughts to herself before speaking up again. "Take the next right. There's a manhole that would lead to the tunnel systems near the north lab facilities. It looks like the DEO are on their way too." the tone of her voice conveyed the message. She doesn't agree but she understood.

"Copy that. I'll contact you again if I find anything. Or if I need anything."

"No problem Batwoman. That's what I'm here for." Oracle replied.

Kate parked some place that it's well hidden before reaching the spot Oracle had described. She raised the cover and pushed it aside.

Armed nothing but her wits, gadgets, and the plans of the facility that Lena had given her, Kate ventured into the dark tunnels in search of the secrets that Cadmus had been guarding tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: I've set the chapter limit to 30 :)


	6. The Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena seeks to find answers for herself only to be confronted by even more questions and a crisis of her own; the DEO charge into three of the known Cadmus labs; Kate stumbles upon some of Cadmus' ongoing research and the remnants of Projects 1, 2, and 3; Kara finds herself face to face with Cyborg Superman, the real Hank Henshaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything else I do promise that Kara and Lena's stuff would get less angsty in like 2 chapters…? I don't plan to prolong the agony of it, I'm planning cute, romantic stuff too, and a lot of it. But anyways, here is chapter 6, the end of my Cyborg Superman mini-arc. And boy is this a long chapter.
> 
> Up next: a visiting Supes, a case of multi-colored kryptonite, and Sanvers trying to get a move on things (because the slow burn the show is giving us is already killing me, but it's so good…). And perhaps slow burn Supercorp… not entirely in that order…
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy the update!

"Kara." she heard him say in a whisper.

If Kara herself never thought she would ever hear that voice again, she would have been very scared. It would mean that Cadmus knew her secret.

And if Cadmus knew… no, she didn't want to think about it.

But it wasn't some random Cadmus agent.

No.

Kara wasted no time turning around and rushing towards the metal bars, reaching out to the hands of the man who took her in when she was little. "Jeremiah." she said sounding a little breathless and teary eyed. She wasn't expecting this. But it was a good surprise nonetheless. "You're alive."

Jeremiah smiled sadly at her, fumbling through the keys that were in his hands to set Kara free. He looked weary, tired, all gruff and unshaven… but all that didn't matter because he was there. He was alive. And they could go home together.

Jeremiah opened the door and Kara all but stumbled forward, bringing him in a tight embrace. "Alex, she's… we've been looking for you. But you're here! You're here now and _we_ can go home."

"I know Kara." he replied as she pooled away, a hint of sadness in his eyes. He placed a hand on her cheeks, wiping away a tear that that threatened to fall and took a deep shaky breath before smiling back at her. "I'm so proud of you honey. Both you and Alex. Tell her that for me."

Kara looked at him confused. "Y-you… you're not coming with me?"

"I'm here to set you free Kara, but I can't go with you. Someone needs to stay behind and make sure…" Jeremiah said, urgency in his voice. Noise started to come from the somewhere behind the door he came through. " _You_ have to go."

"I can't leave _you_." Kara said, gripping onto his human father's hands. "Alex won't forgive me if I do."

"There won't be anyone to forgive if you don't." Jeremiah replied. "You need to go, honey. You need to stop them. Go through that exit at the back, it will lead you to the tunnels. Now go!" Jeremiah said, pushing her away, readying himself to barricade the entrance he used to the room she was being held in.

Kara hesitated for a minute or two, not wanting to leave him behind. But she knew that if she had any hopes of saving him, they needed to stop Cadmus.

And she can't stop Cadmus all locked up.

"I'll come back for you." Kara said. "We both will." she added before, with a heavy heart, she zoomed away.

Kara gained a bit of distance, not daring to look back, as she made her way through the tunnels Jeremiah said. She eventually found herself staggering half way through the labyrinth she was navigating, after-effects of whatever it was they have done to her still present.

She took a brief pause, gathered her breath and her strength to push through. She craved the outside, craved the light and the sun. She craved the fresh air too. She wasn't sure how long she was out, how long she had been where she was being kept but that didn't matter now.

She needed to get out.

For both her sake and Jeremiah's.

Kara pushed herself forward with that one thought in her head. She needed to get to Alex.

"Supergirl." she heard a rather static-like voice said and Kara turned.

Only to find herself face to face with J'onn…

No… not J'onn…

Hank Henshaw.

* * *

 

"Oracle. Oracle do hear me?" Kate said through her com. She was making her way through the tunnels of the research facility north of the city, having already taken care of a few Cadmus agents after reaching a fork in the road. She turned to the left – based on the blue prints, it led to a bigger space ahead, branching off to three more routes with smaller spaces, while the right led to what looked like a small room – and found herself at the secret research facility she had been hoping to find.

She had just turned around after reaching one of the smaller spaces on the map, some sort of operating room clinic set-up. There was nothing much in terms of plans there although Kate did find a few items laced with green kryptonite. Making her way back, she decided to head towards the bigger of the two spaces left to explore.

Jackpot.

Not entirely though.

The underground research facility looked like it was hurriedly shut down, a few files in disarray, some being burned in a bonfire to one side of the room. There was a hallway heading to what she assumed was more rooms, the door needing keycard access. Kate gathered as much intel she could from the files, fired up the main computers and see what she could recover from them, before heading through the hallway using the keycard she swiped from one of the cronies she knocked out earlier.

"Sorry for the non-answer there. Batman needed help with something."

"The Joker?"

"No. Maybe not. Hopefully not, you never know who turns out to be the-big-bad-mastermind these days. It's more underground society than anything." Oracle replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sending you a few files I found." Kate replied. "And Oracle, I think you might want to tap into the cam in the eye visor of my mask and see this for yourself."

"Sure thing, hang… oh my God." Oracle replied. The sight leaving her speechless.

Kate turned around to scan the whole room. There were people, humans undoubtedly, in glass tubes filled with water. They all looked injured and possibly dead but were somehow being kept alive. With the sudden abandonment of the labs, they were all left to die.

"Here I thought that I've seen everything." Kate found herself saying before turning around.

But what was more horrific was the three gestation pods that housed what Kate couldn't distinctly figure out as human or alien. They were each labeled with a Roman numeral number.

Projects 1, 2, and 3.

Kate took a few steps forward, placing a hand on the glass of the pod labeled 'II'. Inside was what looked like a boy with black hair. The rest of his body was undeniably not human that Kate couldn't even begin to describe it. 'III' had the same looking boy, aged a little so that he was in his teens, but it looked like half of his body had mutated. 'I' was of an aged man, hints of black hair still on his head, blue protruding veins ever visible.

In each pod was a port and a mini computer screen. Kate found a way to bring power back to it long enough so she could upload the data in a different tablet that was directly connected to the Batcave and Oracle's watchtower.

"Sending the info I found now. And if you could give a message to Batman for me. He needs to get Superman in the loop. Now, preferably."

"Will do." Oracle replied.

They really needed to find Project 13 fast.

* * *

 

"So, uh, you work with the DEO long time?" Mon-El asked sounding quiet uncertain. The whole thing still felt knew to him. The fighting, not so much, being a palace guard on Daxam ensured that he'd seen plenty of fights.

Being an agent of a secret organization though, it was definitely something new.

"I'm currently in a different division." Agent Vasquez replied. She was taking charge of the first team heading towards the Thorul Labs facility, southeast of the city. The labs were focused on research related to agriculture and development but beneath the lower levels they found a nifty little set-up for robotics and engineering labs. It looked like they were working on a few alien based tech and testing parts that seemed to be parts of some giant robot.

Or maybe a suit? Mon-El remembered something like an animated show that Winn showed him the other day, and the parts they found seem to fit with the theme of what he watched.

Agent Vazquez was currently preoccupied with two of the guards as the rest secured the premises. "Cool." Mon-El said, it really sure what to say in situations like that, just as he elbowed a screaming guard coming at him from behind. He would have offered the DEO agent a helping hand but she really didn't need any.

"Agent Vazquez, I think you'd be interested in what we found." one of the agents then said once they've rounded up the team form Cadmus working there.

"What is it? Let me guess, a room lined with lead containing kryptonite?"

"Not exactly ma'am. It's a room, no lead, but definitely with shiny rocks. Possibly kryptonite." the other agent said, leading the way.

Agent Vasquez stepped inside the room first, followed by Mon-El.

"White and orange. Those are definitely new." Agent Vasquez said signaling the rest of the agents to pack things up.

Mon-El took a deep breath, he was expecting something more… grotesque? But they didn't find anything monstrous. They did find the rocks, a few dead plants, a flying cat…

But no sign of Kara.

* * *

 

Kara felt her back hit the brick wall behind her.

Okay, so Hank Henshaw was _definitely_ not dead.

And he was _definitely_ not the normal mean-spirited director of the DEO that Kara remembered.

It was like he had developed powers similar to her and her cousin. He was strong, very strong.

But thankfully not as fast as Kara was, she soon found out, as she sped up to him and knocked him over. Kara thought it was over then, but Henshaw soon pulled on her cape and pulled and flipped her over.

Which was, one, not fair. Why do people keep doing that with her cape?

And two, maybe the cape does have some flaws…

Kara was still trying to get up when Henshaw rushed towards her. She had no choice but to use her heat vision to blast him back, hitting his left eye instead. Kara was scared for a moment that she might have permanently hurt him… like in ways she knew she wasn't supposed to…

She was expecting a cry of pain, but Henshaw gave none of it.

And when he looked back up at Supergirl she saw why. The upper part of his face having been melted off, the metal skull and red cybernetic eyes.

 _Well, that explains it._ Kara thought to herself and braced herself for the next round of attack coming from the Cyborg Superman.

* * *

 

Nothing.

Well, maybe not nothing.

The second team of DEO agents rushed into the suspected Cadmus facilities southwest of the city, but there were no signs of Kara.

The lab itself focused on development of new medical technologies but the labs underground, as they found, were being used on illegal experiments on aliens.

What had angered J'onn was the experiments on gene splicing, combining the DNA of two different species of alien.

But what was most disconcerting of all was when they struck silver and gold in a heavily lead-lined safe.

Silver and gold kryptonite that is. The amounts were small, but to a Kryptonian, the effects were very much dangerous.

Potentially lethal.

If not, irreversible.

* * *

 

 

So Kara may have been getting the upper hand for a while. Henshaw was getting frustrated and Kara was using that to her advantage.

Slowly, it started to add up.

The attacks of the other cyborgs in the city the last two days, Cadmus was just testing her strength, possibly gaining information. Scientists do that.

They were studying how prototypes would fair so that when the real thing comes, well the real thing would be as strong as the Cyborg Superman Kara was facing.

But Kara wasn't going to give up, she couldn't. She had a goal she needed to accomplish, she needed to get to Alex.

But she was also getting tired and weary, still recovering from whatever number Cadmus had done on her.

Kara threw another punch and Henshaw managed to duck and tackle her to the ground. He reached for something from behind him, a knife like material covered with black lead sheath. "Goodnight Supergirl." he muttered before biting on the sheath and pulling out the green kryptonite blade of the knife.

Henshaw raised his hands up high, getting ready to aim. Kara tried to fight through the pain, the effect of the kryptonite in near proximity. She had to get up, had to fight, escape.

Some beeping thing came swirling from the darkness of the tunnels ahead, lodging itself on the back of Henshaw's hand before exploding, making him drop the kryptonite knife.

Kara manage to throw him to the side, pulling off a move she's seen Alex do a few times. Henshaw tried to get up but Supergirl pushed through picking him up and throwing him against the wall before falling down to her knees. The kryptonite was still within reach.

Henshaw tried to get up, some connections from his other hand starting to come lose. He was slowly short circuiting.

But then she heard shots fired. A bullet going straight through his cyber red eye.

"Alex." Kara said, mustering all of her remaining strength as her sister came rushing in with the cavalry form one of the ends of the tunnels before her.

Alex rushed to her side just as Kara collapsed.

Kara took a deep breath, her strength was still slipping away, but she's not worried anymore.

She was home.

* * *

 

"K- Get that thing away from her!" Alex shouted. She nearly said it for the second time that night. She nearly slipped in front of Maggie that Kara was Supergirl.

Maggie rushed towards her side and kicked the kryptonite knife away. The rest of the agents rushed into the scene, some moving forward, securing the place, others moving to collect what was left of a cyborg Hank Henshaw.

Maggie looked at the knife, to her, then to Supergirl, questions forming in her mind. Questions she knew she had to answer at some point.

But now was not the time.

What mattered at that moment was her sister, Kara, and figuring out whatever Cadmus had done to her. Her mouth had traces of blood at the corner, the blue of her suit looked like it had been stained with blood here and there too.

Just at the sight of how she was, Alex swore she would make Cadmus pay, everyone behind it in particular.

"Alex." Kara whispers again. "Alex, they have Jeremiah."

Kara's voice was enough to snap Alex out of whatever vengeful thought she had. "Dad? You saw him?" Alex asked, keeping her voice down low, trying to understand what exactly had been going on.

"He saved me." Kara managed to say, still struggling. The effects of the kryptonite still only starting to wear off. "I-I can show you where…"

"You can't, you're hurt." Alex said. "We've got the building surrounded Supergirl. If he's here, we'll find him." she added, although truthfully she said it more to herself.

She didn't want to leave Kara looking all weak and defenseless. She didn't trust that they would be safe until they were finally out.

Alex looked up and barked orders to the DEO agents, rushing in, clearing the labyrinthine tunnels and spaces they underneath the research facility. She was hoping that what Kara had been saying was true, that it wasn't just a dream or hallucination.

But nothing.

They found a few Cadmus guards tied up somewhere along the way, shut down facilities, and pods containing monstrous beings.

But her father was gone.

* * *

 

"Lena, what a pleasant surprise dear." Lillian said as she made her way into her apartment. Lena had been waiting for her the past hour, nursing a glass of scotch in hand after helping herself with her mother's bar.

She didn't really plan on setting foot in her mother's loft during her stay in National City. She really wasn't planning on seeing her other than whenever she finds herself at L-Corp. Things have never been easy between them, Lillian always second-guessing her actions, always judging.

After all, no one could ever compare to Lex. Not in their mother's eyes anyway.

"You know, I've been wondering what your interests are in visiting National City, why you're here." Lena started to say, setting the glass of scotch down on the coffee table and standing to greet her mother.

"I'm here for you, dear. Despite the accusations in your tone. I haven't done anything that wasn't for your own good, or for your brother's, if that matters. I already told you that."

"You abducted Supergirl!" Lena exclaimed, shocked that she could still find herself so surprised with her mother's actions. "When you first told me about Cadmus, I thought you were taking over some program with the military. Something that would benefit the world. Not follow Lex's madness."

Lillian took a deep breath and regarded Lena calmly. "You saw the merits in your brother's brilliance yourself."

"I didn't agree to all of his insane plans." Lena clarified. "I saw the vision he could see of a better world. I agreed with _that_. Not killing people, not experimenting on them."

"Supergirl is an alien, just like the one who put your brother behind bars. They are _not_ people. " Lillian refuted, taking a few steps closer to Lena, but Lena backed away.

She didn't have to ask.

The answer was as clear as ever. Her mother wouldn't even deny it, that she took Supergirl, did God knows what to her.

And it made her sick to her stomach that the woman she respected, she had loved, she had craved for affection from, would follow the same footsteps of her darling boy.

But of course she would.

He was her son.

And what was she to her?

"Lena." Lillian said, taking another step closer. This time Lena didn't back away, she couldn't really move. No, she doesn't want to hear another speech from her mother about how she should run the company, or how Lex would have handled things, or how they should support him.

Despite Lex trying to kill her twice already. Whatever the purpose of those attempts were.

Strong arm her or get her to see the vision he had.

See the exact same picture detailed in his mind.

"Lena." Lillian repeated and Lena managed to find the strength to snap her eyes away from the floor and straight into her mother's, hurt evident in her looks.

Hurt, anger, fury, contempt. All of it.

Because she couldn't shake it off. Being a Luthor.

She wasn't really one, but she was _raised_ as one.

And that was enough of a reason for her to bear the burden.

"My darling girl." Lillian said, gently placing her hands on Lena's cheeks, looking her straight in the eyes. Concern was written all over her face, but was it really?

And if it was, was it concern for her?

"You are a Luthor." she heard her mother say as plain as day. "You saw what _he_ did to your brother. Lex, he was his best friend, he treated him like a brother, and you see what happened to him. They have to be stopped, no matter what that entails. And I, for one, can promise you just how good it feels to make a goddess bleed. Drawing a small amount of blood with a needle or busting their mouth open, realizing that _they_ are flesh and blood just like all of us. I wonder if she even remembers anything."

"What did you do?" she asked, her tone dropping low, almost sounding like a growl. The thought of what her mother could have done, the ways she could have hurt _her_ … it was all nauseating. "You would have killed her just to get to him." Lena then added harshly, her words laced with contempt. She pulled away, tried to, but her mother grabbed her hand and held it tightly in hers.

Lena couldn't help but be disgusted by being held by anyone who had done terrible things to people she cared about – well, one person in particular. But she couldn't escape, Lillian had an ironclad grip on her hand.

"You need to understand Lena, what I'm doing is for your own good." Lillian then said. She reached out to tuck a lose strand of her hair behind her ears. "I see you care for _her_. But don't believe that she's your friend. Don't fall for the same lies your brother did. You and Lex, you are my children, my family. As your mother,  _I_ will do anything in my power to protect you from anything and everything in this world." she went on.

"This isn't protecting." Lena replied through gritted teeth. "This isn't right."

She was trying, _really_ trying at that moment, overwhelmed by the thoughts her mind was leading her too, what her mother could have done.

She can't to fall apart, not now, she can't show any signs of weakness.

And part of her couldn't help but wonder how life could be so much easier. A part was wishing hard that it was. Because it could be, if circumstances were different.

If only her family didn't involve a megalomaniac brother and a mother condoning his insanity. Let's not forget the father who pushed Lex to the edge of breaking down over and over again in his attempt of shaping him as a 'perfect' son.

Lillian placed both her hands on Lena's shoulders, taking a deep breath. "You do what you must, do what you want." she said, giving Lena's arms a gentle squeeze as her hands made their way to holding her hands, still trying to put on the show of being a caring and loving mother. "But when the time comes, I expect you to make the right choice my dear. Don't let your emotions lead you astray. You're a smart girl Lena, so don't be misguided with your actions now. _You_ are a Luthor, and you will always be one. I'd hate to see you throw away all of that just because of a _friend_." she continued to say, the soft look she had been trying to adopt disappearing behind the cold mask of indifference that she wore so well.

Lena didn't need to hear her mother say it twice to know it was an ultimatum.

A threat.

There was no staying neutral to this.

Lena took one shaky breath before pulling herself away. She didn't know what to feel as she made her way out, wordlessly leaving her mother behind.

She _was_ a Luthor.

And Lena was so sick of what that meant.

* * *

 

"He's gone." Kara said almost in disbelief. She and Alex had just gotten settled in her apartment a good two hours after her rescue, pints of ice cream in hand, TV on the background. The sunbed at the DEO did wonders to her, although she was still definitely feeling tired. The de-brief was short but straight to the point, with J'onn promising they would all talk about this in greater detail tomorrow, the Martian looking tired and weary himself. Kara couldn't really blame him, they had so much information to process in just one night.

"A few of the scientists and guards got away, started moving shop when they found out you escaped. That's why they released Cyborg Superman on your trail." Alex replied, repeating something Kara already knew, having watched clips from the memory core they found in the cyborg's head. Winn said something about it sending signals of the feed, but before anyone could suggest they trace where the signal was going to, Winn explained that it was already shut off.

"I'm so sorry Alex." Kara started to say, not knowing what else to say. They found him, they almost had him. They almost managed to retrieve Jeremiah, save him from the clutches of Cadmus.

"Hey, don't say that." Alex said, pulling Kara into a hug. "We got you back. We know he's alive. We have a more substantial lead. That's what's important."

"Thanks for saving me, by the way."

"I'll always have your back, you know that." Alex said as she smiled. Kara could see, her sister was still a little shaken with the events of the night. Alex can try and be tough all she wants, but Kara knew her well. "It helped that we also had help."

"Yeah, do you have any idea who gave Maggie that tablet?" Kara asked, still curious at who helped save her.

Alex shrugged and shook her head, but while her sister didn't know, Kara knew she would want an answer to that herself.

All in good time.

Alex seemed like she was about to say something regarding the information they got when there was a knock on Kara's door. "What's she doing here?" she found herself saying after using her X-ray vision and finding Lena Luthor standing by her doorway, the CEO slightly turned away from the doorway, acting like she was deep in thought.

"Who?" Alex asked after Kara got up to grab her glasses.

"Lena." Kara replied on her way to the door.

"Wait." Alex said in hushed tones. "Kara, I know she's your friend but now that we know that Cadmus is carrying out Lex Luthor's projects and that they're labs are housed under L-Corp subsidiaries, taking a bit of a distance form this woman would be wise."

Kara frowned in response. She knew that Alex may have a point. A very valid point.

But she also believes in judging people by their own merit. And Lena has done nothing to prove to Kara that she couldn't trust her.

If anything, she should be worried about Lena. Lex had already tried to have her killed twice, and now that Kara knew about how Cadmus was connected to Lex, she was worried that Lena's life may be in greater danger than before.

And just as she was having a conversation with Alex, she couldn't help but sneakily try to listen to Lena waiting outside, her shaky breaths, the irregular beating of her heart. Like she was afraid. Like she had been crying.

Prompting a sense of urgency in Kara.

"Kara." Alex warned just as Kara reached for the door.

"I believe in her Alex, and I do think she deserves the chance to prove her innocence." Kara replied and Alex seemed to buckle down.

Not that she could do anything to protest because Kara opened the door anyways.

"Kara." Lena said breathlessly as soon as she did, leaving Kara a little speechless. Kara wasn't entirely sure what the CEO was doing outside her door at about one in the morning but she did know that Lena was far from being fine.

Lena immediately reached out to her, taking her in a hug. A really tight hug, as if Lena was clinging onto her for dear life. Kara could feel the dampness of her tear-stained cheeks through the material of her shirt and instinctively wrapped her arms around her, wanting to protect Lena from whatever it was that was hurting her in that moment.

Because there was definitely something bothering her, Kara could feel Lena trembling slightly in her arms and she really never thought of the possibility of the CEO being afraid of anything. Of being shaken by anything.

It also didn't help that Kara could smell the scotch and whiskey that Lena had undoubtedly been drinking.

Lena pulled out of the hug and fixed a smile on her face, trying so hard to hide the sadness in her heart. But it was too late, Kara already caught a glimpse of it. "Sorry if I bothered you this late of a time. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." she then said, stepping inside of the apartment after Kara gestured for her to come in. She turned to find Alex smiling weakly at her, or at least attempting to smile at her – Kara knew better, she could see Alex ready to interrogate her friend for how she could possibly be connected to Cadmus, for wanting to hurt Supergirl.

"I'm fine." Kara replied not sure why Lena would sound so worried about her. Not that it didn't make her feel happy to know that Lena _was_ worried.

"I heard about the attack near Catco earlier, I wanted to know you were safe." Lena replied, starting to adapt her usual manner more and more.

"Oh, right." Kara replied, being caught off guard by what Lena said, the attack near Catco already long forgotten what with the events of the night. "You could have just called." Kara said.

But that wouldn't have been as nice as actually seeing Lena.

And with how Lena was acting, Kara was glad she did show up on her doorstep. She wanted to know if anything was wrong when Alex cleared her throat. "I probably should go Kara. Call me if you need anything." she heard Alex say, her tone still sounding very protective.

"I will." Kara said, watching her sister leave.

"I should probably go too." Lena then said. "You're probably tired from all the excitement in the city tonight."

"No, you don't have to go Lena." Kara said, stopping her. "Lena…" she started again when the CEO stopped and turned to look at her. "Lena, you know you can talk to me. I know something's up, I can see it."

Lena looked reluctantly at Kara, stopping herself from saying something. She was surprised to find Kara reading her so easily.

But then again, Kara noted, that whatever was bothering Lena had her so shaken up that it didn't take much of an effort to notice.

"Sit." Kara commanded, her arm waiving towards her couch. "I'll make tea. You will talk. I will listen. And if you need to cry, I've been told that I have good shoulders to cry on. I'll be your handkerchief." Kara said with a smile.

Lena laughed a little with Kara's remark and covered her face with her hands tentatively before taking Kara's offer. She started to relax a bit and smiled, genuinely this time. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you have superpowers, Kara Danvers." she said, making her way to Kara's living room.

"Oh, and what-what would that be?" Kara asked, being caught off guard by Lena's comment almost dropping the box of tea she grabbed from her cupboard.

"Being a good friend." Lena replied and Kara once again relaxed.

Kara had no idea why but Lena Luthor saying she was a good friend suddenly meant the world to her.

* * *

 

Lillian Luthor was still on edge with the display of emotion her daughter had just shown.

If Lena couldn't see it now, she would find ways to help her.

But that wasn't what was important now. She was making her way through the cold hallways of one of Cadmus' secret facilities. The one at the very heart of the city. Bad news seem to come in droves as she heard Supergirl managed to escape.

And the DEO also seized three of their facilities.

"Doctor, this was the man responsible for the Kryptonian's escape." a man in a white lab coat had said as guards brought in Jeremiah Danvers.

"And what of Henshaw?"

"Destroyed. We assume all remaining parts were taken by the DEO. The camera we implanted in his cybernetic eye showed the agents storming the facility. The last shot we got was of a bullet flying towards him."

Lillian Luthor took a deep breath to calm herself. She was not going to let this unsettle her.

Minor setbacks, that was all.

She turned her attention to Jeremiah, all beaten up and bruised. "Doctor, what do we do with Dr. Danvers now?"

"Oh, I now just the thing." she replied with a cruel and knowing smile.

* * *

 

Talking with Kara always felt like magic. Lena was careful with her words, it wasn't as easy as she wanted it to be. She wanted to tell Kara everything. About Lex, about her mother.

But there was a part of her that was scared. Afraid that Kara would view her in a different light. Tainted by blood on her brother's hands. And now her mother's too.

She was even more afraid to admit it to the girl that she could understand it all. The fear that drives her family. The merits of some of their ideas.

That doesn't mean she couldn't open up about how her mother was overbearing and manipulative, or how she was trying to sway the board, try to seize control away from Lena if she didn't agree with her.

Kara patiently listened as Lena went on about what it means to be a Luthor, family legacy and all, how she's struggling to clear up their name, how she's trying to fight. She found herself opening up about her fears and anxieties, about feeling like she never really belonged despite being raised as a Luthor.

Sometimes the weight a name bears was too heavy for one to live up to.

Kara smiled, encouraging her to open up, holding her hands and giving it a squeeze every now and then to let her know she understands, that she's there for her.

"I know how it feels, Lena." Kara had said, opening up a little about being adopted by the Danvers. But even Kara was guarded with her secrets, careful with her words.

But Lena didn't mind.

She was thankful for whatever Kara decided she wanted to share with her.

She didn't mind the baby steps they were taking to establish a friendship with strong foundations.

Although if Lena was being honest, she definitely wanted more than just the friendship.

They talked throughout the early hours of morning until somehow the two of them managed to entangle themselves in the small and cramped space Kara's couch provided, drifting off to sleep.

At least that's how Lena found herself that morning, clinging onto Kara so that she wouldn't fall from the edge of the couch. But Kara's strong and sure arms around her let her know that no matter what, she wouldn't fall.

She would be safe.

She would be there to catch her.

Lena could hear her heart beating loudly against her chest, her face dangerously close to Kara's own. It's not like she could really move much, not that she wanted to. She was very much comfortable with the way they were – which was odd considering that Lena hated the feeling of falling asleep on the couch, something that she's found herself doing a lot recently, working overtime at home.

Kara's glasses hung askew on the bridge of her nose, and Lena couldn't help but find it to be absolutely adorable. The whole living room was bathed in sunlight, the warmth of it reaching her, making her forget her worries. Her one free hand tentatively found its way on Kara's face, grazing her cheeks ever so slightly. She was very tempted to just remove the glasses but decided against it the last minute. Instead, her fingers ghosted the corners of Kara's mouth, her mother's words haunting her despite there being no sign of bleeding or anything. She eventually decided to let her hands rest on Kara's shoulder, not wanting to disturb the other's peaceful sleep.

Lena found herself smiling lightly to herself. Kara made her feel warm and safe, and Lena was just thankful she got to live this moment before it ended, the thumping in her chest becoming faster, louder.

Kara slowly started to stir and when she did open her eyes, after blinking away the lethargy of sleep, Lena couldn't help herself be drawn in by the blueness of Kara's eyes. Kara's lips started to form a shy smile as their eyes finally met.

Lena opened her mouth, wanting to greet her good morning when the door to Kara's apartment suddenly opened, Alex Danvers marching in with a box of what seemed to be donuts, going on about wanting to check on her sister. She wasn't really entirely sure because the sound of the door opening jolted Kara awake, causing the two of them to tumble down to the floor.

But Lena was right. Even when they fell, Kara managed to catch her, Lena finding herself lying on top of her chest, briefly hearing the fast-paced rhythm of Kara's heart.

And that was enough for Lena to smile and laugh as she pushed herself off of a stuttering Kara who was trying to get up, addressing her sister with incoherent sentences.

Lena left reluctantly after Alex insisted she eat at least a donut and have coffee with them. It was an awkward scene for a breakfast really, the three of them silently minding their business, the two sisters conversing with just their glances.

No, she didn't want to leave the safety and shelter that Kara had brought her. The semblance of stability her presence had on Lena's life.

But she knew she had to get going.

A storm had passed and a stronger one was coming. Lena needed to make up her mind, make decisions that she knew would impact her life moving forward.

Back in her own apartment was a small shoebox that she kept under the sink of her bathroom – because let's face it, no one ever checks what's under the sink - hidden behind the supplies and cleaning items one might find there.

In that box was a series of leather bound journals.

And Lena knew, she had to make a decision of what to do with it fast.

Because something most definitely had to give, and when it comes to it, she wasn't entirely sure she could ever give the actual ray of sunshine that was Kara Danvers up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the update. We'll pick up on what happens to Daddy Danvers much later in the fic (I'm already apologizing for that in advance). Just a quick note since I'm not sure if I'll bring up 2 of the 4 types of kryptonite I mentioned in this story.
> 
> White: Kills plant life. Yup, there is a type of kryptonite that has it out against plants.
> 
> Orange: Gives animals superpowers (who wants to see Kara give Alex the puppy dog eyes for having a superdog?)
> 
> Gold and silver would be mentioned again later in the story so I'll pick up on explaining that later. Or you can just check out Smallville :3
> 
> Other types of kryptonite would be mentioned again over the next few chapters and I'll explain their effects throughout the story or at the end notes if the characters don't bring them up themselves. ;)


	7. Aftermaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena takes a stand; a wild Kate Kane appears at CatCo; Alex tries to get a lead on Maggie's 'source'; Kara starts to remember a few things from her abduction and struggles grappling with things she really couldn't understand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the support so far! We're taking a break from the action for quite a bit (like 2 chapters) to focus more on the characters. Comments and reviews are always welcomed and if you wanna see something or have a suggestion, my lines are always open. The events of the actual crossover in the shows would be mentioned briefly around chapter 14, you can also expect the Arrowverse peeps making a guest appearance for a 5 chapter mini-arc after chapter 15 (because Barry messing up timelines can't be good for the multiverse), so that's something to look forward to. I also dropped a few more hints of what's to come in the plot below.
> 
> Sorry for the longer wait in uploads, the chapters are getting longer and I'm a grad student working in lab for like 11-12 hours a day T.T so it takes time to write stuff (despite already having the material to write about… I just need a time machine… or a lot of coffee…)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the update! Sorry for the long schpill (and the longer one at the end of the chapter).

It was already late in the morning and Lena was supposedly at the office but sometimes things take priority over important meetings. She had already pushed some of her planned engagements that morning at some later time and called for an emergency meeting for her board of directors that afternoon.

Decisions needed to be made.

And if she was going to fight a battle, she had to be prepared.

If Lena was being honest, she was still a bit shaken up with her confrontation with her mother last night. In her eyes she saw what the woman who took her in really was. Kate's words echoed in her head too, and Kara's smile and warmth.

No, she wasn't going to let anyone change her, turn her into something she wasn't.

She could only hope that she was making the right decisions.

"Ms. Luthor?" Lena heard and she turned to face the other woman in the elevator with her looking at her in a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

"Have we met before? I feel like we have." was Lena's response.

"Right, Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD. We responded to the latest attack at L-Corp. If it helps, I was also at that party in Metropolis before, the one Bruce Wayne threw for _The Daily Planet_. That's the first time we met." the detective replied, Lena trying to piece together the information.

"Ah, you were Kate's date. Now I remember." Lena replied. "Seeing her then?"

"Sort of." Maggie replied, choosing her words carefully. She smiled brightly at Lena despite trying to figure out what the CEO wanted with Kate so early – well, early for Kate – in the morning.

Which was exactly what Lena was trying to figure out herself.

They reached the floor to Kate's National City apartment and Lena followed the detective, she seemed to know her way well, to her door. Maggie produced a key, which Lena found intriguing – if memory serves her right, Kate had broken up with her most recent paramour over a year and a half ago, rumors suggested she was back to philandering.

Lena walked in right behind Maggie as they made their way into the apartment. Kate was standing in her living room, eating a bowl of cereal while tuning in to the news channel, and wearing nothing but a loose white button up shirt and a pair of black boy shorts, her red hair a mess. She turned to look at her guests with a curious gaze before setting down her bowl.

Lena couldn't help but notice the old scar on her chest, peaking from her shirt – she had always wondered where she got it from, but with Kate's recent activities coming into light, Lena didn't have to guess too much – the freshly bandaged wound on her thigh, the bruises.

And here she acts as if nothing has happened the night before.

"Are you just going to both stand there? Or are you going to tell me why you're both here?" Kate asked and Lena found herself almost saying something at the same time as Maggie. She turned to look at the detective, who mirrored her exact reaction, before she heard Kate sigh.

"Hey Mags, do you mind?" Kate asked as she tipped her head towards Lena's direction. Maggie sighed and nodded.

"You still owe me." the detective said as she turned to leave and Kate simply chuckled.

"How are you?" Kate asked, as soon as the door was closed. That was her peace offering of sort, Lena knew. They had a tense-filled conversation last night, Lena being taken off guard by the information Kate gave her and afraid that her longest friend had turned on her too.

That's how it always seemed to be.

But the timbre of Kate's voice, the kindness in her tone, she knew they were okay.

Lena released a breath she wasn't sure she was holding. "I could ask you the same thing." she then replied, pointing at her bandaged thigh but Kate simply shrugged.

"Comes with the job." Kate replied. "But what can I do for you Lena?"

"You kept your word. _She's_ safe." Lena started to say. "And I think we both agree that she's only safe for now." she continued, dropping her bag and her on Kate's couch before producing the three leather bound notebooks she had secretly kept. "I don't know how much help these would be with whatever you're looking into... I don't know if they're just Lex's machinations or actual plans. But if this helps…"

Kate reached out to take the notebooks. Lena took a deep breath before handing them to her. Immediately Kate flipped through the contents. And immediately, she looked at Lena like she had struck gold, mouth slightly hanging open. "Lena…"

"I'm guessing that the notebooks are actually helpful."

"How long have you had these?" Kate asked, flipping through the second notebook.

"Since Metropolis. Lex sent it to me after… well, you know…" Lena replied. "I looked at them briefly before setting them aside. They came with files of Lex's potential allies and enemies. Files on people…"

"Like me?" Kate asked, taking her eyes off from the page of the notebook she had been interested in to briefly look at Lena. Her fingers gripped the binding tightly, her jaws were set. She looked tense, and Lena could understand why.

Kate may be alone, and she may prefer a life without having to worry about anyone else given what she does, but she did care for some people. And if anyone knew who she was...

…it's not her life that was precious. It's the life of the people around her. It's always been like that with heroes and vigilantes. You can't save anyone if there's no one you want to protect at all cost.

And Lena found herself thinking about the person she wanted to protect the most. Could she really even protect her?

Lena took a deep breath "Yes." she replied, taking her eyes off of Kate for a second. She remembered all of them, dozens of them. They were very well kept files, dossiers that seemed to be meaningless but with Lex's own writing on top of the information presented on each of them, those files were a goldmine of information. Lex had been afraid of keeping digital copies, they were easier to hack or steal and delete than the paper files he safely kept and had arranged to be delivered in a box that cannot be opened by anyone other than Lena.

After all, the box needed a drop of her own blood alongside the lock that needed the locket he gave her as a present years ago.

"Where are those files?" Kate asked, her voice dropping low, adopting a more serious tone.

"I burned them." Lena replied, gathering the strength to look back into Kate's own green eyes. It was the truth. The box was incinerated – Lena was afraid that there were people who might have known about it and who might want it – and the locket melted along with it. It was a reminder of Lex that had forever been tainted by his madness, and she didn't need that reminder. The insufferable name she carried was enough. "I wasn't expecting his speculations to be spot on. With you, though, it was easier to figure out that it was true. And just the fact that it  _might be_  true… I decided the safest decision is to burn them. I only kept the journals because…"

"Some of his projects might seem promising and actually beneficial? Yeah, I get that – knowing you and all – and trust me I'm thankful you didn't burn _these_." Kate immediately said, cutting her short, raising one of the notebooks up in one hand.

"Look, Kate, towards the end of the last journal, Lex talks about a project in Cadmus…" Lena then started to say.

"Project 13?"

"More like 'experiment 13', but yes. Before it was a list of other experiments numbered one through twelve, a comment or two of why they failed. He was desperate of getting it to work but what he wrote was all in code. Reading it once, you'd think that it's absolute gibberish, but after reading it a few times I think he's talking about gene splicing and cloning, I'm still not absolutely sure. That was the last entry before Superman got him in jail. He also had notes about 'The Man of Steel', 'The Man of Tomorrow', and 'The Last Son of Krypton' but I don't think he was talking about Superman there." Lena explained. "I think Lex… I think he's after having Superman's powers, whatever way he can have it. I think he wants a way to reach him, defeat him."

Kate closed the notebooks, still holding them tightly in her hands. "Yeah, I don't doubt you there. I found the remnants of 'I', 'II', and 'III' and they're not pretty. I left them at the facility I explored for the DEO to find. I'm sorry the honest work you're trying so hard to build is being pulled into this Lena."

Lena smiled weakly, shrugging the comment off. She was disappointed, true, heartbroken that after all the hard work she's putting, her company is still getting tied down to Lex's criminal activities. She took a deep breath and hoped to change the subject, away from her at least. "So the DEO _is_ real?" Lena then asked. "It was in Lex's notes."

"Yes." Kate replied with a somber look. "I'm worried Lena. They had Supergirl and Lex had Superman tied in a bunch a good number of times as well. This all just spells trouble for me."

"Kate, listen, about that. I think, I think Cadmus might have a sample of _her_ blood." Lena then said.

"What do you mean?"

"My mom" Lena replied, the very combination enough of a reply for Kate to deduce everything else.

"Don't worry, we'll look into it." Kate then replied reassuringly. "Lena, thank you. For all the help."

"I just want this to end." Lena replied truthfully. "It's like a nightmare trying to haunt me forever."

Kate nodded and smiled sadly. "I know the feeling." she said with a sigh. "I guess I owe you too." Kate then added.

"Oh, I'm glad you said that." Lena then said with a smile as she remembered a promise she made to Kara a few days ago.

Kate listened, amused, as Lena named her price for the debt. "You are unbelievable, you do know that, right?"

"I'm holding you to honor that promise." Lena simply replied, her CEO mode in full swing.

She could try intimidating Kate, a part of her _was_ actually trying to do it, but she was sure that the redhead would just laugh her off. So instead she was trying to propose it as a business deal of sorts.

The two of them were teasing each other of course, that much was clear between the two of them.

" _I_ didn't make any promises to honor." Kate said in response, a smile forming on her lips. "But, if it's seeing _your_ cute reporter again…"

"If you dare…" Lena then cut her short. Not even as a joke would she accept Kate trying to pull of her romantic wiles on sweet innocent sunny Kara Danvers.

"Fine. I won't." Kate replied, resigning to her fate.

"Good." Lena simply replied. "Oh, and it has to be a full and exclusive interview. She's free to ask you anything, okay?"

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Kate replied with a chuckle.

"No." Lena said with a smile as she turned to leave.

Many battles still awaited her.

After all, she was playing a very dangerous game.

* * *

Cat Grant had spent most of her morning terrorizing her new assistant and her staff, there was much going on in National City lately that she finds it harder and harder to let go.

She will take the plunge at some point.

But not until she's certain that she leaves everything behind in good hands.

But right now the said good hands were struggling with one crazy event after another. Her selected replacement was struggling to keep himself standing upright, no doubt badly beaten and bruised himself, and her protégé currently distracted.

There were rumors that Supergirl had disappeared at some point the past night. She had actually been hoping for the frequent balcony visits from the Girl of Steel since she had returned but other than the first one to welcome her back, she hasn't returned. If anything it made Cat proud, her mentee heroine was learning to stand on her own. While Kara herself was setting out to be a promising reporter though, whenever she assumed her reporter identity, she gets weighed and boggled down by countless of other things.

Cat was going to actually give her this day for free, if those rumors were true, Kara should have stayed home and rested. She deserved to use one of those unclaimed sick days. Maybe that's why Cat was worried, seeing Kara throw herself to the usual hustle and bustle at the company without thinking twice about taking a break herself and processing the things that may have occurred to her. But then Snapper came yelling at the cub reporter earlier about missing the deadline on the interview with Kate Kane that she was supposed to hand over. Cat wasn't really surprised, it was Lena who gave that excuse. The CEO could have very well been playing Kara for a fool.

And if Cat was honest, that very thought didn't sit well with her.

"Kiera, why don't you have a seat? We need to talk." Cat said, catching Kara walk past her office. Kara looks at her curiously, no doubt wondering what she could have done wrong. Really, Cat just wants to make sure she's doing okay.

"Sure, Ms. Grant. What can I do for you?" Kara asked, her usual bright sunny smile on her face. "Is this about the Kane article? I'm sorry if it's late…"

Cat was about to say something to interrupt Kara when to her surprise the red haired heiress that Kara had just mentioned walked straight into her office with her usual charming and flirtatious smile on her face. "Kara, I was just looking for you. Ah, if it isn't Cat Grant. I believe the last time I saw you was at that party in Metropolis a few years ago. I didn't think I'd see you there, if I was being honest. It was definitely a nice surprise."

"Katherine Rebecca Kane, in the flesh. I hope you're not here to get a little cozy with one of my reporters." Cat said protectively. There was no way in hell that she would let a woman with Kane's reputation sink her teeth into Kara. "As for the party, you know I can't resist an invitation from Bruce Wayne himself. No woman can."

"I stand to differ, but then again, I assume you would be right." Kate replied with a good humored tone. "I'm actually here to apologize to Kara." she went on, and somehow Cat found that Kate Kane calling Kara Danvers by her first name didn't sit so well with her. "I've been busy with personal affairs, I forgot I owed her an interview."

"That's very nice of you." Cat replied with a smile, her eyes quickly studying Kate for whatever intention she may have of Kara.

"So, Kara, would you prefer to go to a coffee shop or…" Kate then started to say.

" _Kara_ " Cat said, getting the name right, "has an office. You can do that interview there. Keep the doors open." she then said.

Kate smiled politely. "Of course." she gave as a reply.

Kara led the way, confused by the entire situation. Cat Grant keeping a close eye on the pair.

She can talk to Kara later.

* * *

Kara spent most of her day still trying to piece together what happened to her at Cadmus, what they could have possibly done to her. She's been going back and forth on texting Alex, following up on any leads but after dropping by around lunch at the DEO and seeing the crazy that was dealing with some of the still living experiment subjects they managed to rescue from the Cadmus facilities, she decided not to.

Especially since Alex was giving her weird looks all morning. Alex had been saying what Kara believed was weird things to her when she dropped by the DEO to check on things, figure out what Cadmus may want with her blood. "I'm just saying Kara, it's like taking sleeping with the enemy a little too literal." Alex said trying to suppress a chuckle as they made their way side by side from the balcony where Kara landed only minutes before.

"Alex, what did I tell you before? My greatest superpower is knowing when people are honest. That and being a good judge of character. I never liked Maxwell Lord, for example." Kara had said, deflecting Alex's teasing.

"Yeah, but sometimes people let themselves be blinded by what they feel for someone. Even you're not exempted from that flaw." Alex had reasoned. "Look, Kara, I know we talked about me having _feelings…"_

"Alex, where is this going?" Kara had asked, crossing her arms, trying to figure out what Alex was beating around the bush with as she tried to laugh the silly question off.

"I just want to make sure if there's anything you want to tell me. Because if there is, I'm listening."

"Alex." Kara had tried protesting.

"Kara, I'm just trying to look out for you here. I don't want you to be manipulated because the two of you sure looked pretty cozy on that couch and…"

"I'm her friend Alex. The only one. Well maybe not the only one, but the only _reliable_ one. I trust Lena, you all need to learn to trust me on that too. She's a good person. She's resilient and optimistic and…" Kara had started to say before J'onn had cut her off on her rambling about Lena regarding a flying cat with super strength.

Kara tried pushing the thoughts about what Alex was saying deep, _very deep_ , down the depths of her mind. There was so much going on and while they have found some clues, they don't have concrete answers to anything. She's actually starting to miss the usual rowdy alien from Fort Rozz trying to terrorize the city. Those were simpler times in her rather crazy life.

But waking up, holding Lena in her arms like she did, it felt nice, peaceful, and normal for once. The kind of normal that Kara had always looked for and wanted.

It just felt right.

And Kara couldn't help but _love_ the fact that she could here Lena's heartbeat spiking up, or how they just perfectly fit, or…

 _What on earth are you thinking about, Danvers?_ she chastised as she caught herself daydreaming about that fleeting moment of perfect she had earlier that day.

She already woke up with jolt, what with Alex walking in on them – not that Alex walked in on them doing anything funny or something, definitely not that. Her tongue getting all tied up didn't help. Really, the only consolation about the whole morning fiasco, as Kara liked to call it, was that she managed to make Lena laugh at whatever kind of situation they were in. With her state that night, it was a sigh of relief that she still knew how to smile.

Kara may have even promised to herself to try and make the CEO smile and laugh more often.

The rest of her day was the usual. Snapper hurling verbal abuses to pretty much every reporter within distance – he's under a lot of pressure since Cat returned – and Cat Grant once in a while walking in on her office to ask her for help since her current assistant was a nervous trainwreck around Cat.

She was wondering about what to do next, thinking that the best solution to get answers was to try and talk to Lena if she knew about her mom, but how? She couldn't exactly waltz in her office and start asking questions about Cadmus, make up a fake article she could probably pitch later to her boss if she actually has something to write about. Although she could always say that Snapper killed the idea – there's no way Lena would believe that Cat would - and she knew the CEO well enough at least what with the short time they've been friends. Lena would see right through the innocent questions and she doesn't want to jeopardize her friendship with Lena no matter what the reason was. She couldn't exactly land on her balcony as Supergirl either because that would simply fall into the same patterns Lex and Superman had going on between them. She didn't want to accuse Lena of anything, especially when deep inside her, Kara knew that she was innocent. Kara most definitely didn't want her to try and make Lena feel like she's being accused of something she hasn't done. She doesn't want Lena to be judged just because of her name. Only be known for the one thing that makes a Luthor, well, a Luthor.

She already knew the feeling of it.

Kara settled on trying to approach James about this topic. They were friends, and talking to him had helped a lot in the past. On her way to her office, however, she was stopped by Cat Grant who seemed to have wanted to talk to her, no doubt wanting to know whatever happened to the Kate Kane piece she had promised as a disguise of checking in on her. Kara knows, she hasn't been acting normal that day at all. There was just too much on her mind.

To her surprise though, she didn't get her daily dose of helpful pep talk from Cat Grant.

Instead Kate Kane herself came waltzing in to Cat Grant's office, and then to her own.

Kara was about to close the door behind them to begin the interview when she heard Kate protest. "You heard your boss. Leave a little bit of a crack otherwise I'll have _two_ CEOs breathing down my neck, making death threats and all, about trying to _corrupt_ you."

Kara let out a little nervous laughter. Her first thoughts circling back to Lena and how she was being very protective of her, the second to Cat who had always been protective of her as Kara and Supergirl. "I have to admit, I didn't expect for your reputation to precede you Ms. Kane." she replied, respecting Kate's – and Cat's – request before taking a seat behind her desk.

"We've talked about this, call me Kate and I'll call you Kara." Kate simply required

Kara nodded slowly, the charming heiress giving the office space a quick scan. "Well, Kara, fire away with your questions. Lena made me promise you can ask me anything. Just nothing too embarrassing I hope."

Kara smiled. "You care about her, don't you? Lena. I mean, you're here because she asked you."

Kate smiled, a little less flashy this time and more somber. "You have a sister Kara, you should know how it feels like. To be protective of her, care about her, humor her requests. I had a twin, and I lost her in the most unexpected of ways and I never thought you can lose one person two times in your life and yet I did. Lena, even when I was desperately a hopeless case, she saw some good in me and stuck by me. I don't know, I think it's her personal mission to try and fix anything or anyone who's broken. She's a good person and she's my best friend, although I'm the first to admit that I am a terrible one. I suck at personal relationships, I guess. But anyways, Lena's the closest thing I have to a sister, and we do share a lot of things in common, so."

"Right." Kara replied.

"I'm glad to see someone else care about her though." Kate then said. "She deserves it."

"What?" Kara found herself asking, being caught off guard by the comment.

" _You_ , I was talking about you Kara." Kate replied with a knowing smile. "I hope that's not your first question. I was made to believe that you want insider scoop regarding my family's business interests here in National City. Let's make this one hell of an article, shall we?"

Kara nodded, and focused on asking the essentials from that point on. Kate had said it wasn't really her thing to care much about the family business but she explained that when her step-mom found out she was in National City, she basically had no choice. "I suppose I needed a good reason to stay, other than philandering or chasing after exes. The last one not really true, if I may add." she commented which made Kara curious but she decided not to press on and to remain professional.

True to her word, Kate Kane answered every question that Kara had and by the end of it, she knew she had enough material that would make even Lois Lane jealous at getting this exclusive. There were some things that Kate had to keep mum about, that was a given, but she had been fully transparent and open during the interview.

And in some ways she saw the smart and brilliant Kate that Lena had adored like a sister – that is, whenever Lena wasn't frustrated about Kate throwing her life away, because other than Lex, or her strict adoptive father who only knew how to show his 'affections' by spoiling Lena with material things while she was growing up, it was Kate she talked about the most.

It was actually funny how the whole interview went from Kate Kane and her reasons for staying in National City to learning more and more about Lena Luthor.

And Kate, Kara thought, may have given her a subtle version of a shovel talk…

At the end of the interview, Kara opened the door for Kate and saw her out. She saw Cat take that as her opportunity to ''have a little chat" with Kate herself.

Kara went straight to typing away her first draft and doing her job only to realize an hour later, when Kate had gone, that the redheaded heiress aaid something that she shouldn't have known about.

Back then, when she first met her as Supergirl, she didn't officially meet Alex as a fake FBI agent who was Kara Danvers' sister.

And she never mentioned anything about having a sister.

Lena also admitted that she really didn't see Kate much other than that initial visit at her office. And it's not like Lena would go on and chat about Kara, spill everything she knew about her to Kate in one morning, right? That's unlike her.

So how... just how did Kate know that she had a sister?

* * *

Alex has had a busy day, the definition of busy kind of busy.

And of course, not to forget, an insane one too.

Aliens? Alex can handle that. World-traversing hero from the multiverse popping up into National City? Even Alex can deal with that, or at least she believes she could have since Winn and James managed. Kryptonite that doesn't exactly affect Kara? It's definitely a welcomed change.

But when the white kryptonite seems to be killing all their plant-based experiments, interfering with some natural product synthesis experiments they've been trying to run in the science labs of the DEO? The day starts becoming hectic.

And when the orange kryptonite is tested and produces an entirety of super-powered animals, essentially turning a section of the DEO into a superzoo? Well, Alex just needs a vacation. She did not sign up for any of it.

Kara thought it was amusing though, throwing Alex and J'onn puppy dog eyes when she was asking if she could keep the orange cat with the lightning stripe that came _flying_ into her when she checked in earlier that day.

Alex is a little ashamed that the whole thing is actually up for debate because J'onn was considering to let Kara train it as a superpet.

"How about the other ones you found?" Kara had asked J'onn all hopeful that the silver and gold kryptonite, as J'onn described and dared not show Kara, wouldn't affect her either.

J'onn had turned, jaws set, a look of consternation on his face. "We really need to call Superman soon. Those two kinds are serious business. Do you know when he'll get back from his trip?"

"Trip?" Alex had asked.

"Uh, yeah, apparently he's got meeting with his, um, crime-fighting friends? The one I talked about before with serious personal demons called for an emergency meeting." was what Kara gave as an explanation. "Why J'onn? Do you know what they do?"

"Sadly, yes." J'onn had replied with a deep sigh. "Gold takes away your powers permanently Kara, and silver messes with your mind. Gives you hallucinations and causes paranoia. Stay away from them."

So on top of Alex's crazy lists of things she never thought would happen and or hear about in the DEO, she adds silver and kryptonite under the 'worried for Kara' category.

"Uh, Alex." Winn said, disrupting Alex's train of thoughts as he rushed up to meet her on their way to the training room.

"What is it?" Alex asked, closing her eyes shut, hoping to God that it was good news.

"Remember when you said to hack Lena anyways after Kara insisted she was innocent?" he continued, trying to ease in whatever it was that he wanted to say.

"Did you find something alarming or are you just wasting my time, Winn?" Alex snapped back.

"Well, see, here's the thing. I was trying to hack L-Corp and I found that I couldn't. Trying to probe further, I managed to detect a device that was jamming our signals _while_ mining data from every tech within the building. I tried figuring out where the data is being sent, and…" Winn explained, looking away from the tablet in his hand and away from Alex before smiling wearily at her. "And, well, _we_ got hacked."

"Are you telling me the DEO got hacked?" Alex asked through gritted teeth and hushed tones, repeating what Winn said.

Winn nodded slowly. "We didn't lose any information or anything, someone just sent us a message." he further explained, showing Alex the tablet.

_> >Friend or Foe?_

_> >Ha! Winn Schott Jr., huh? Let's see…_

_> >Friend then. Be patient. All info in due time. When the boyscout's in the loop._

_> >Stop digging info on L-Corp or Cadmus might decipher your location. They're also trying to get into the mainframe. Friendly advice._

_> >-Oracle_

_> >PS: Your cyber security system sucks. Better update soon._

"Who on earth is Oracle?" Alex asked, shoving the tablet back to Winn more perplexed than ever and maybe slightly insulted to think that the DEO is not up to speed in security. Much of the info they had so far came from a tablet Maggie gave them, a tablet that constantly was being updated, which meant that they _may_ have secret allies somewhere. But why the secrecy? Just a dislike with the DEO? Distrust with the government?

But more importantly, who was helping them?

Alex decided she had too much unresolved _anything_ for one day – especially when the question of what Cadmus wanted Supergirl's blood for gets thrown into the mix – and decided she would get some answered from Maggie.

Half an hour later and an outfit change – it couldn't really be helped – Alex was walking into the dive bar looking for Maggie, who was on time as always and racking up a pool table. "Danvers, how can I help you? It sounded urgent from your phone call. Everything okay?"

"What do you know about the whole thing with Cadmus?" Alex asked jumping in straight to the point, trying not to get distracted by the way Maggie looked at the moment in a shirt and a leather jacket, or her dazzling smile for that matter.

"You would actually know more than I do." Maggie replied, an honest answer from what Alex could gather. "I was just a messenger."

"This is serious Maggie. They did _things_ to Supergirl, and she couldn't even remember all of it. One thing for sure they… just, they did something bad and could potentially spell out danger for everyone."

"Yeah, I gathered. I never thought Supergirl…" Maggie started to say before pausing, she was trying to figure out what to say exactly and Alex could only guess what she was trying to get at. The image of Supergirl, weak, tired and beaten in Alex's arms popping into her mind. "You really care about her, huh?" Maggie asked looked away and Alex thought she saw something akin to jealousy – was Maggie jealous of Kara because that's just… but then again Maggie doesn't know – before she quickly hid whatever touch of sadness that was present before with her usual confident and reassuring smile. "I'm trying to get answers myself, Danvers. When I do know more, I _will_ tell you."

"From your _source_?" Alex immediately asked and Maggie nodded slowly, turning away from Alex to grab her drink. "Can I just, maybe speed things up and ask your source directly?"

"It might not be the best idea." Maggie replied uncertainly. "I'll see what I can do Alex. It's just… I have no idea what's going on and it's complicated, it's always been with…" Maggie started to say before taking in a deep breath. "I know you're worried Alex, but my source is a friend you can trust."

"Is it someone called Oracle?" Alex tried to ask, the name prompting a flash of recognition on Maggie's face.

But she simply smiled. "Look Alex, I'm just a tag along in all of this. I'm not supposed to know anything, just provide help. And I trust you, I do, but this goes deeper than anything and I'm not in the position to say anything about it."

"What aren't you telling me Maggie?" Alex asked, again straight to the point.

"It's not my secret to tell Danvers." Maggie then said, eyes apologetic.

Alex nodded, feeling slightly disappointed, and perhaps, she was feeling a bit envious herself.

Because it would seem there was someone, or some people, who Maggie was willing to defend and protect this far.

"Is it Kane?" Alex then asked, connecting Maggie's defensive behavior with regards to Kate but Maggie gave no reply.

"Still don't trust her?" Maggie then asked.

"There's something about her I don't like." Alex simply stated, sounding more like a spoiled kindergartener than anything. She wasn't sure why it came out like that.

_You're here to get answers for Kara, damn it! Get your head on straight…_

… _one problem Danvers, you're not…_

 _Damn it!_ Alex thought to herself. Maggie's effect on her growing stronger the longer they knew each other. Their close proximity, the memory of that first kiss at the bar too…

This may have been a bad idea…

Maggie laughed a little, more out relief than anything. "If you beat me in a game, I'll let you know why."

"So you know the reason why I already hate her so much?" Alex threw back and Maggie simply shrugged and smiled. "Fine. But if I win, and I will, I'm meeting your source."

Maggie smiled bigger than before, "As long as you promise me you don't try to kill each other Danvers." was all she said in return.

* * *

Kara was going back and forth on whether or not she should look into Katherine Kane – because maybe she was just paranoid and it's actually nothing? Maybe Lena told her that Kara Danvers had a sister who saved her life once too?

Then there's still the question of what Lena knew about Cadmus and that just led to a jumbled mess of thoughts in Kara's headspace that she just couldn't deal with, at all.

Flying over the city always cleared her head, and once again she found a few moments of solace and solitude, losing her thoughts about how peaceful the city was… you know, for as long as no one is threatening to attack it for once. Soon, she found herself hovering just above L-Corp, her subconscious guiding her to where she needed to be.

Kara settled on Supergirl coming clean to Lena and asking her for help. Maybe she would believe her? Hopefully she wouldn't feel dejected or offended because Kara just couldn't take to see the hurt in Lena's eyes. She knows about her estranged relationship with her adoptive mother, she knows how brokenhearted she was with Lex, and her dad was a rare topic if he even gets brought up. And Kara knew, beyond the dysfunctional family thing she's got going with being a Luthor and all, she knew that Lena loved them. Her family.

That there was a part of her always hoping there was some good left in them. Even when that part was slowly dying.

She was hovering near her balcony, away from the view of the city Lena's office provided, when she heard a familiar voice.

"I do not appreciate any of this my dear. I'm here to make amends, we are all we have left. And this? This little stunt with the board? What are you so afraid that I would do?"

"I'm simply protecting my interest mom." she heard Lena say, her tone ice cold, and her words coming out sharp. "I'm a Luthor after all, even with your constant reminders that I'm not. Let's not forget the reminders of what I owe to this family and what I stand to lose if I'm ungrateful."

"I hope you'll see the error in your ways before it's too late Lena." Kara heard her mother say. "You're a fool to throw away everything just because of what? A fleeting crush? And do you really think that there's any hope for it? My dear, you deserve better, at least I thought you did."

"Get out." was Lena's reply, her voice dropping low. Kara could hear the pain and hurt and anger in it. "Go!" she nearly yelled.

Kara couldn't help it, a part of her just wanted to zoom in and protect her or something. But she held back at the last minute and decided to scan the room with her X-ray vision instead. A blonde woman was turning to leave Lena's office, Lena slowly taking her place behind the desk, leaning on her chair. Once the door was shut, she placed a hand to cover her face, trying to regulate her breathing despite finding herself trembling.

Kara wasn't sure what to do. She could see Lena trying her best not to fall apart, keep herself whole. _Fix herself because she can't help but fix anything she finds broken, or anyone,_ Kara thought.

It didn't help that when she got a glimpse of the woman Lena was talking to she was having hazy flashbacks of being strapped to the stupid kryptonite-lined table and...

_It was her..._

She was the woman she saw in Cadmus.

And she was Lena's mom.

Kara found herself once again going back and forth with her decisions. She wasn't sure of what they were talking about, if it was even Cadmus-related or not because it sure as hell sounded like Lena's mom disapproved of someone the CEO loved…

…or you know, maybe liked? Kara didn't really know anything.

There was an ache in her chest. An ache at the thought of seeing Lena who she was used to seeing to be so strong and composed hurting like she was. An ache at the thought that there was someone Lena loved, someone Kara probably didn't know… and then her mother and her words that was digging at Lena, stabbing her with their heavy weight. All Kara knew was that ache and that it was something she couldn't quite understand, what with being overwhelmed with everything that has happened to her the past twenty four hours and counting.

So Kara flew down to some alleyway, hidden in the darkness of the night, and changed from Supergirl to Kara Danvers before making her way to L-Corp.

There were a lot going on, a lot Kara didn't know at the moment but one thing she knew for sure was that Lena didn't need Supergirl right now. Not to complicate matters that were already complicated, no. She needed answers, true, but Lena… she was alone. She was feeling all alone and lonely and if anyone knew how it felt - the isolation, the solitude - it would be her. Lena needed Kara Danvers not Supergirl, and Kara knew that to be true, especially at that moment.

And that's what Lena was going to get.

Because Kara would be damned if she ever let Lena feel so small and alone ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kid you not, there is actually a Supercat whose name is Streaky. Google it. Other than Krypto we also have Comet, the Superhorse, and Beppo, the Supermonkey… hence the comment that a section in the DEO became a superzoo in Alex's POV (I did say multicolored kryptonite fun in the coming chapters).
> 
> But on more important things, who wants to see Kara get a superpet that Lena stumbles upon? It would be fun? It would be cute and adorable. Think Lena having two superpuppies! :3
> 
> PS/additional explanations (I might do this if I make easter eggs): Bruce Wayne throwing the party at The Daily Planet = he owns it in the comics at some point…
> 
> Kate Kane and her sister = she was abducted with her mom and her twin when she was younger before being rescued by her military dad (mom was also military) but the group who took them (Religion of Crime) already killed her mom and sister (she was eventually traumatized by the ordeal), years later, her sister turns out to be on the rise in the ranks of the same criminal group and has been obsessed to kill her as Batwoman (she turned over a new leaf I think at some point but that hasn't happened yet for the purposes of this fic); I just thought it would be interesting to see that despite being an absentee friend, she actually is protective of Lena


	8. Secrets and Secret Keepers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here is chapter 8 of the fic with a dash of cute moments between Kara and Lena, Kate and Alex's official (epic fail) of a first meeting, a bit more of background on Kate and how she's gotten into owing the favor she owed of the Batman, and few mentions of what happened in the canon-verse of the show, at least in terms of J'onn (although I'm handling his problem differently). And more plot development!
> 
> In other words, I present to you what is quite possibly the longest chapter I've ever written…

"Lena's mom is what now?" Alex asked, jumping straight up from Kara's couch, taking a deep breath as she processed the information. "And how… you know what… ugh, Luthors! How did you find out?"

"I don't know Alex, it just flashed back and clicked in my head when I saw her." Kara said. Watching Alex pace back and forth a bit. "She was there at the facility, she… she was the one who took my blood, did something to me. And Lena…"

"She's in on it too, isn't she?" Alex threw back, taking another deep breath as she took her place back at Kara's side.

"No!" Kara almost yelled adamantly. She could still remember the perplexed but somber look on Lena's face when she all but rushed into her office with a dozen or so boxes of Chinese food. Kara came marching in with a purpose to cheer her up, without actually having a plan whatsoever.

"I'm guessing you actually had your interview with Kate?" Lena had asked amused when Kara started stammering about why she was there in the first place.

"Sure, yeah, that's why." Kara replied, nodding as she flashed Lena the biggest and brightest smile she could muster.

Lena was still all glassy-eyed but she couldn't help but laugh at Kara's antics and Kara had felt herself smile and sigh out of relief. The heavy world on Lena's shoulders, crushing her with its weight, had been lifted.

The smile on Kara's face was wiped off, however, when she turned her attention back to her sister. Alex was giving Kara a sympathetic look, an 'I understand you like to see the good in people but Kara…' look that she had definitely mastered down to a tee. Kara sighed, it felt like they were always running around in circles with Lena. "She doesn't know. I don't think she does Alex, besides her relationship with her mom sucks. Lena, she's not like her mom, not like her brother."

"And how do you know that?" Alex asked, her voice sounding like she was trying to plead with Kara to heed reason. "How did you even run into Mommy Luthor? Did you run into her at Lena's office or building or something?"

"I… Well, not per se…" Kara started to say but then stopped herself. She bit her lip and smiled at Alex.

She knew because she pried. Well, not on purpose or anything…

…but she _did_ pry.

She knew because she heard the distress in Lena's voice as she neared the building, because Kara always listened in whenever she was passing by to make sure Lena was safe, she could't really help it. She knew because she could hear the irregularity in Lena's breathing as she tried to keep her composure. She knew because she saw Lena keep her masks and once her mom had gone she let herself collapse just a little.

Alex simply nodded, she didn't have to wait for a reply from Kara. She knew her sister a little too well to not figure it out on her own. "I swear Kara, she better not hurt you, as Kara my sister or as Supergirl, or so help me…"

"Stop thinking about ten different ways you can murder her and get away with it if she does. First of all, she won't. Second of all, I won't let you." Kara said adamantly, grabbing one of her throw pillows and smacking Alex in the arm with it. "But how's everything at the DEO going? Any breakthrough on the Cadmus kryptonite stash? Figure out who's secretly helping you?"

Alex sighed and shook her head. "Any news from your cousin? We really need to get through to him."

"Yeah, he hasn't really replied to anything – texts or emails – since he said he had to meet with his super pals." Kara replied, sounding a little worried. Anything worth calling a team of superheroes for spelled trouble in a major way.

Typically world-ending trouble, sometimes just megalomaniac world domination trouble.

And Kara most definitely did not like that.

"J'onn isn't getting any better either." Alex then said with a sigh. "He got M'gann detained in one of the cells. He's definitely turning into a White Martian and with all this Cadmus thing in the middle…"

"Have you tried talking to Eliza? Maybe she can help?" Kara asked, hopeful that if anything Eliza Danvers could come save the day for J'onn.

"Yeah, about that." Alex replied. "I don't… I haven't… you know, talked with mom since you know… I-I sort of, um, came out to you."

"Alex," Kara started to say as she smiled, "You don't have to if you're not ready yet."

"Tell mom? I know. I'm just… I don't know. It's been this really exciting thing in my life right now, and I feel like I'm vibrating constantly, wanting to tell people, let the whole world know, but at the same time I'm afraid to tell people because then they'll know and she's mom, I don't want to feel like I let her down, you know? I'm just afraid I'll slip and… it's a conversation to have in person."

Kara smiled, her thoughts somehow drifted to Lena for a second remembering what she overheard from the conversation she had with her own mother and couldn't help but think how lucky she was that she got Eliza. She pulled Alex into a hug, "It will be fine Alex, I promise you that." she said with all certainty.

Because if anything, she was really thankful she became a Danvers.

Alex's phone buzzed, the DEO always knew when to disrupt their little bonding moments. "Anything urgent?" Kara asked.

"Just some test results regarding J'onn's condition. I should probably go and check this out." Alex said.

"Keep me posted." Kara replied as she watched her sister leave.

Duty never ends for family.

* * *

 

"Okay, you need to spill because I'm not going to get caught up in another of your convoluted cases. This is National City, not Gotham. I left all of that back in Gotham." Maggie said as she made her entrance into Kate's apartment, the redhead looking pissed as hell as she sat slumped down in a corner of her couch. In Kate's hand was a bottle of whiskey, the good kind that she never really opens unless she specially wanted to be drunk. "You're mad." Maggie then added, pointing the obvious.

Kate took a deep breath then a swig out of the bottle. "I had an argument with someone. It doesn't matter." she replied. "I really ought to get my key back from you."

"Then don't forget to ask it back before I leave." Maggie replied with her usual level of snark. "I wanna' know what's going on Kate. You said you owe me anything I want and I want the truth. Why was Supergirl abducted, what happened to her, what's this all about?"

Kate groaned. "If I knew all of the answers, I would give it to you. But I don't." she replied before finally setting aside the bottle of whiskey on the floor. She took another deep breath before returning her attention to Maggie. "About three months before I moved here, I ran into the Dark Knight and he asked me a favor."

"And you said yes. We've established that."

"I asked him for help on something before you left, personal reasons really. I needed to track someone down." Kate explained with a shrug. Maggie didn't have to ask what it was about. When Kate promised her honesty she delivered and hid no secrets from her. Especially after she revealed that she was Batwoman to her. But there's always been one thing that had still affected her badly to this day, that one thing that haunts her. And Maggie knew, from the way she was acting, that it was _that_ one thing.

Sometimes life throws you everything at once, just to see how well you would handle it.

Kate continued. "He came for the fee before he could deliver with his promise – and he did, I actually just got what I want to know – but anyways, he told me he needed my help with something Luthor-related." she continued. "Everything's been tense, especially with Lex being apprehended. The Joker apparently alive, plus the usual colorful rogues of Gotham with their reign of terror… not to mention the clown prince of crime actually stumbled upon one of the shutdown illegal facilities that Lex ran with kryptonite. Batman got to him before he got any ideas, thankfully. Can you imagine what would happen if that psychopath turned his attention to Superman? Before anything else crazy and world shattering happened, I said yes. One, because I did owe him, more than the favor, I owed him my life. Two, because I was afraid for Lena and I have been a crappy friend and this was one way I knew I can make it up for years of being AWOL when she needed me the most. Three, because it's kind of big."

"Big in what way?" Maggie asked concerned.

"Lex, he's tried a lot of different ways to beat Superman. But this, it's more than that. It's gaining power. Gaining god-like power in whatever feasible way. This crosses moral values, ethics, I don't even know. If even the most mentally unhinged of criminals find a way to fear and respect Lex, I think it's clear that if he does subdue Superman and gets what he wants, well… One can only imagine what will happen."

"That's why you said yes, I get that, but what on earth is going on, Kate? What does Luthor want?"

"A chance to play god without being one." Kate replied, plain and simple, her tone dropping low. "Lex, he controls Cadmus. It used to be a research lab under the DEO tasked with performing experiments on aliens. It got shot down but somehow Lex acquired it and everything associated with it. That's how he conducts his illegal experiments. Cadmus currently has a few projects running, including the cyber supermen threat in this city the past few days."

Maggie sat down across Kate, slowly nodding as she processed the information her former paramour was telling her. "Is that why they want Supergirl's blood?" she then asked.

"No, but that's why they have bioengineers against their will. Well, some of them work for them for the heck of it. Anti-alien sentiments and all." Kate replied. "Anyways, Lex has a few other projects still running now, including Project 13. Batman wanted me to look into the experiments and find where Project 13 is with his hands currently tied and well, I think he only told Superman now what he knows and I haven't heard anything yet. Other than Project 13 he's apparently having his people build him a supersuit and many more. I'm not sure what Supergirl's blood is for. I think they might need it to stabilize Project 13 or – and this may be related to why I'm pissed because _some people_ just have a need to place themselves in the middle of danger for _it_ when they don't have the training – I'm afraid that they might be tempted to initiate a new project 1. Especially since even with Superman gone, we still have Supergirl. Bad guys might as well have an army."

"Wait." Maggie then said, trying to follow what Kate was saying. "What do you mean stabilize Project 13? What is Project 13?"

"They've been experimenting on a Kryptonian they captured, one of those who attacked this city last year. They needed information and have been using different types of kryptonite on him. One can bet it's because they needed the info – and possibly samples – from him for Project 13. As for what it is… well… it might be hard to believe if I try to explain this to you now… They've failed 12 times already, and I've seen what happened to one through three and it wasn't pretty. I've let the DEO, well their head, know about it already and he isn't too keen on sharing the info with everyone just yet either. He doesn't want to cause an alarm or frenzy with it. There are a lot people already afraid of what Superman and Supergirl can do, afraid of what will happen if they've had it and turn against humans. He seems to have a lot going on himself."

"Well, from what I've heard the DEO is working overtime on cracking the location of the other labs, handling kryptonite, and apparently super-powered animals at the moment. That and I heard from Danvers that they've been dealing with a problem with the Green Martian that works with them."

"What about him?" Kate then asked, trying to mask her concern.

"I don't know. Alex won't give me info." Maggie replied before remembering the other purpose of her visit. "About Alex…"

"Have you declared your undying love yet?" Kate teased, reaching for the bottle of whiskey once more and Maggie shook her head.

"I lost a game and promised her that I'll introduce her to who's helping the DEO." Maggie then replied, shutting down Kate's teasing.

"Who are you planning to introduce, me or Batwoman?" Kate then asked with a chuckled. "And what game did you play? You were always very competitive, it's hard to imagine you losing."

"Bring whoever is the best version of you available at the time. I'll try to check on her when she can have time on her hands and maybe we can arrange for a meet?" Maggie then replied. "Oh, and it was pool."

Kate groaned once more. "Of all the games you can play, Mags! Why the one that you suck at?"

Maggie chuckled and shook her head once more before standing up, getting ready to leave. "Well, I'm tired Kane and clearly you have a lot on your plate. Maybe we can actually meet up for some time and not talk about work at some point? Catch up?"

"Get the girl first." Kate replied before slinking back deeper into her couch sounding tired herself. "You deserve to be happy, Sawyer. I can see she makes you happy and you're not even together yet." she then added, her voice a little softer.

Maggie smiled and nodded before she turned to leave. There was so much hidden behind the words, their history lingering in the silence, unspoken. But there was no need to bring up the past. They were both moving forward the best way they knew how.

Things with Kate… they never change…

…but at least she's got some answers. Not clear, not complete – Maggie can totally tell that Kate's been holding out on a few things – but it's a good start. She's got pieces of the puzzle. She can work out the rest. She's a detective after all.

* * *

 

It felt stupid sneaking around for once without really suiting up but it didn't matter. She tried, but the DEO found out who she was in the end so what was the point? That's how she got blackmailed into being an agent in the first place. So no suit, despite not all of the lowly agents knowing who she was. She wanted to see J'onn before she headed back to Gotham that night to resolve a matter that hits close to home to her. She settled to go as just her in her civilian persona. Favorite jacket on and hair neatly tied back, comfy pair of boots too.

She knew the DEO had a file on her, and that she could just walk through the front doors without a problem. But again, not all of the agents knew who she was, her files were classified and only certain people with clearance could access it. Granted, J'onn would welcome her and let her in anyways – despite the constant exchange of banters the two have gotten used to – Kate thought that stealth was the way to go. It saves time from explanations and misunderstandings in case someone gets the brilliant idea to detain her.

Besides, having Batwoman caught by DEO agents who have no idea of her history with the government agency might not be the best case scenario, making her resolve to go without the suit stronger. 

Kate can pretend all she wants but she's grown to care for J'onn, considered him to be a friend. She wasn't particularly ecstatic about being a DEO agent for the time that she was, she wasn't exactly in the friend-making business either, but she can't hate people simply because they were on a different team or for having different ideals and approaches to things.

It didn't help that Bruce has been keeping an eye on J'onn either, wanting him to join their little league. It made him a friend, an ally. It increased the time they spent exchanging witticisms and banters, helping each other keep the world safe and all. Kate had just become a new member herself but she couldn't help but wonder how things would be different if J'onn was already one of them. Maybe in a different world he could have even been one of the original members.

So maybe that's why once she gathered herself after Maggie left, she decided to head to the DEO's base of operations to check in on J'onn.

Besides the thrill of an adventure had always been much more alluring to her than chasing bottles and skirts in the process of burying the thoughts that haunted her.

Kate was expecting a little more of a fight as she made her way through the current base that J'onn had been running, the old bunker seeing better days. However, Kate's expectations in terms of security weren't met by much resistance having successfully dodged agents and using the ventilation system to move undetected, years of training kicking in. The process of getting all the way to the top floor of a building for a secret government division should have posed some serious challenge too, Kate knew it would have been easier to sneak into the bunker without her gear, but mastering how to maneuver through both the streets and skyscrapers of Gotham also proved to be an advantage.

The fact that she wasn't wearing a suit only added to the thrill of it too.

She was, however, a little thankful that the DEO followed similar floor plans with some of their other bases, it made for quicker time in trying to figure out where to go.

J'onn was in a closed section of the medical bay of the base, lying down on the bed, resting as he noticeably was trying to control the tremors of his hands. He really was changing. She made a little pit stop at the server room, connecting a remote device before sneaking back up into the vents and making her way to J'onn. Kate brought with her a little pocket tablet, a gift from Oracle, and ran a program, hacking the DEO's server to get the information she needed on the Martian.

"Well, I've seen you have better days." Kate said as she dropped down the vent inside where J'onn was.

J'onn chuckled. "You could have use the front door."

"Not fun that way. Besides, I'm pretty sure all you're agents would have shot at me or at least tried and I don't have much time for that." Kate replied walking towards his bed all while scrolling through the information she got from J'onn. "This looks bad." she said with a sigh before turning her attention to the Green Martian. "Is the whole thing really irreversible?"

"Looks that way." J'onn replied with a bit of a growl. "Did you come bearing new information for us, Kane, or did you just really want to show off that you can single-handedly infiltrate the base?"

Kate tried to hide the smirk brought upon by J'onn's comment and instead focused on what was important. "Nothing new, not much at least. I'm just here to check on you." she answered truthfully.

"Didn't know you cared." J'onn replied with a smile and Kate chuckled.

"I didn't know either." she said in response, placing the tablet back inside the inner pockets of her jacket. J'onn, she felt the same as he did on most days. Losing her family, sometimes blaming herself for it. Feeling like an outsider to the world she had returned to after she was discharged, finding out that her father had married one of the wealthiest women in Gotham...

It was Cameron Chase who supervised her during her time in the DEO, but it was J'onn J'onzz who made it bearable during days when it seemed like she'd slip into the despair that developed her bad habits in the first place.

"You've got something on your mind." J'onn then said matter-of-factly.

"I do." Kate admitted. "Listen, I might need to head back to Gotham for a while. Maybe go back and forth, it depends on how fast I resolve the matter at hand. But I got a lead on some other case I'm working on and I would really like to see it resolved as soon as I can. If anything it'll help me focus a little better in helping you all out."

"Can't have any of your vigilante friends take care of it?"

"No." Kate replied simply. "It's personal."

"A case that's personal." J'onn said, taking in a deep breath. "Does it have to do with the Religion of Crime?"

"Something like that." Kate replied. "But that's not why I brought it up. I wanted to ask you if you wouldn't mind me giving your little file to a friend in Wayne Enterprises, a friend _we_ can both trust for sure. I think he might be able to help with finding a solution to your problem."

J'onn groaned. "How much do you trust this friend of yours with alien biology?"

"He's a bit of a genius so don't worry about it. Besides, I'm not just handing it over to some random scientist."

"Who then?"

Kate just smiled. "Can't tell you. It's confidential." she replied with a smirk, before pulling something out of her jacket pockets.

J'onn looked at her questioningly before directing his attention to the little bracelet like metal in her hand, a light blue pulse being emitted right next to the lock where an elongated rectangular piece was found. "What is that?"

"Well, you know me and my toys…" she said with a shrug. "I was heading to alien central, did you honestly think I wouldn't have come prepared?"

"You haven't explained what that is exactly." J'onn replied, pointing out the obvious as Kate tried to reach for his hand.

"It's an experimental cuff, shall we say, for aliens. It learns how to adapt to a specific alien physiology. You know how vaccines work with introducing deactivated virus to the system so we can develop the appropriate immune response to respond to an active one? Well, this bracelet takes a small amount of you blood, learns the specs with your genome sequence, RNA synthesis and what not, and synthesize something akin to a fake deactivated version of your own cells, enough to trick your immune response that you have an infection, develop the required antibodies to combat the activated version of it – that is your actual cells – and attack it. Since your cells are currently being turned into that of a White Martian's, I figured it would attack the rapidly growing dominant one and destroy it while keep your original cellular make-up intact. Hopefully it would slow down the transformation, at least enough until we find a permanent cure. The smart chip in the device is, however, limited with its abilities and its effects are temporary, and once your body realizes what's happening and start adapting to the change induced by the device, it will be rendered useless. It's a good temporary way to keep aliens powerless, my father thinks it's a brilliant way to keep dangerous aliens incapacitated before being placed in detention cells that can actually hold them." Kate explained.

"And I'm guessing I'm going to be benched for the most part while wearing that device." J'onn said a little displeased.

"Yes. You might feel feverish initially too. It may also hurt when I latch it on to you."

"Has it been tested on anything?"

Kate sighed. "Not exactly, no. Again, it's experimental, as most my toys are, and technically is still far from actual development and production. Not that it doesn't work, just delayed for various _obvious_ reasons. Can't have people use the exact same gadgets that I do. "

"Ugh. Let's try this." J'onn then said after pausing for a minute or two, weighing his options.

He desperately did not want to change into a White Martian.

And if anything, it made Kate feel good that he trusted her with his life.

"Are you sure?" Kate asked, she wanted to help J'onn, she really did. But only if wanted the help.

"Yes." J'onn replied and braced himself for Kate to put on the bracelet.

Which was the exact moment that Agent Alex Danvers chose to walk in and check on J'onn. "Hey, J'onn… wait, Katherine Kane?" she had let out, drawing Kate's attention as she clasped the cuff on J'onn's wrist.

J'onn yelled out loud, a scary monster movie like yell as he shook on his bed, his hands transforming into a White Martian's hand before going back to being a Green Martian's and then a human's. Even Kate jumped back a little being caught off guard by how much the initial contact had actually hurt.

And Kate had to admit, it most probably looked bad from her perspective of things, especially since J'onn was in a tremendous amount of pain only a few minutes ago. She knew Alex Danvers had been looking into her file. Someone had accessed her information from the DEO classified database. Her file had been one of those that can't be accessed by anyone other than those with clearance, what with the sensitivity of her missions. Oracle did a little digging, figured out who was trying to dig through Katherine Kane's information, and traced it back to a Winn Schott, Jr.

Who was pretty much close friends with Supergirl's very own protective sister.

Alex sounded the alarm, there was an intruder after all, as she instantly lunged towards Kate, asking her to step away from J'onn. Kate really didn't have the time for proper explanations, and Alex was ignoring J'onn's pleas as his tremors settled down, his body relaxing on the bed.

Agent Danvers was skillful, and Kate meant that in all ways possible. Alex reached for her gun, but Kate managed to disarm her, the weapon sliding down under J'onn's bed. Kate couldn't help but smirk in admiration, Alex Danvers was a DEO agent for less than half the years she was active with her vigilante training and pursuits but she was quite adept. This was definitely the most fun she's had for the day.

Kate managed to dodge and block most of Alex's attacks until she reached for a medical tray and tried to hit her with it. Kate blocked it with her hand and countered, finally landing a hit that sent Alex flying to one side of the room. Alex wasn't done for the count though, getting back to her feet and landing a kick at the area where she had unknowingly shot Kate, causing the redhead's wound to open. The attack caught her of guard a bit. With the alarms ringing, Kate managed to out maneuver Alex, temporarily incapacitating her by delivering a punch to the gut before knocking her down from an elbow blow behind. She rushed out of the room and headed towards the hallways before Alex could get her bearing again.

She would have stayed and chatted but if Alex had already decided that she's the enemy and with J'onn still not perfectly back to tip-top shape, it would have been difficult to convince anyone of her innocence. She can't let the DEO detain her for long.

She needed to get back to Gotham. She'll have time for explanations later.

Upon turning a left at the end of the hall she ran into a tall and well-built young man. "Halt!" he had yelled. Based on her own investigation, she recognized him to be the Daxamite being held at the DEO. Right behind her, she could hear Alex making her way, calling out her name.

She was rushing straight towards him and Kate was thankful she brought a few small items along with her for the fight. Especially now that she knew for sure she didn't want to face a hoard of DEO agents – including a very angry Alex Danvers - what with time slipping away and all.

Kate pulled out and threw tiny little metal orbs that proceeded to fill the hall with smoke, this allowed her to slip away from the Daxamite without engaging him. She took two left turns and a right where she ran into a tech holding a tablet, based on the files she had about the people close to Supergirl she recognized him as Winn. Kate was ready to swiftly strike him down when he attempted to swat her with the tablet but he surprised her by jumping to the side of the hall making way for her.

After turning another right she realized why.

Alex was quick in gaining ground and she was almost within her reach when she passed by the hacker. Kate realized that when Alex pinned her down against the wall, of the empty hallway. "You. You were the one on the roof."

"Ah, so you do know you shot me." Kate replied with a grin. "You're quite impressive Agent Danvers, might actually give Agent Chase a run for her money."

"What do you want Kane? What did you do to _him_?" Alex asked, not hiding the dislike that she had of her. "I swear if you don't talk…"

Kate laughed. "You'll what?" she taunted. "I'm trying to help J'onn. You too. Oh, and Agent Danvers…" she said before flipping Alex over in one slick move and pinning her more firmly to the wall than she did Kate. "Before you threaten me, make sure that you've actually successfully have me defenseless." she continued, throwing a wink. Alex tried to break out of the grip and Kate simply countered, throwing her down to the floor hard before deciding to make a break for it.

It did help that by that time J'onn had reached the opposite end of the hall and called out to Alex as the DEO agent tried to scramble onto her feet. "Let her go Alex!"

Kate felt a little less guilty after that. If J'onn decided it was worth addressing the whole thing himself now, it means the cuff was actually working. She felt herself relax a little from that as she smiled.

She was usually very serious and disciplined but something about wrecking a bit of chaos in a DEO base made her feel better too, what with their persistent work of hounding her over the years until they finally got her to work for them.

And for the first time in a long while, she felt alive again. Not in the sense that she felt when she was on the rooftops of Gotham serving her own brand of vigilante justice.

But alive in a way like she had almost forgotten when her innocence was taken from her from watching her mother and sister die.

Kate reached the server room, retrieved her little device and went out the same way she came in.

Boy will she have some explaining to do to Maggie…

* * *

 

Lena leaned back on her chair, trying to take a break from looking over the files for some of the new proposed projects she wanted to push through for the coming year. She's had very little sleep for the last few nights. Decisions needed to be made and so she did.

And she decided to play the most dangerous game she had ever dared to play.

Lena was never one to discuss her own private plans with anyone else. She had learned since she was young that the best way to win was to hold all your secrets to yourself, make sure no one has any idea of what you're planning to do. Keep them guessing and rely on no one other than yourself.

Which was why Kate was very much pissed at her when she came back that night to discuss what she figured could be Project 13 and the possibility of a fourteenth one. Kate was more observant than she ever gave her credit for, one look and the redhead knew she was forming a scheme at the back of her mind, a scheme she wasn't going to like and tried talking Lena out of it, but Lena simply ignored her.

Lena had been doing some digging of her own, made bold moves as she gambled against the odds. It hit her while talking with Kara over dinner, what her mother could have possibly wanted with Supergirl's blood, what Lex's incoherent ramblings on his journals were. Kara was checking on her, asking her if she was okay, wanting to know if everything was alright. "It's just, I saw this woman earlier. She looked displeased coming out of your office." the reporter had reasoned out.

It was a lie. Of course Lena knew that. But while she couldn't help but smile at the thought that Kara was concerned about her, she did remember what her mom had been pushing forward to the board to take up as their project.

It sounded like a noble and valiant effort. Stem cell research.

But then added with what Lex had in his journals and it wasn't hard to figure out what the two of them were after.

And yet, with what she's found, she still had so many questions she needed answers to. Who brought her mother in? Did she know all along? Why did Lex try to get her to takeover for him if her mom was already working on his behalf? One thing Lena knew for sure was that there were more players in this game than she knew and she needed to find out through the one way she knew how.

That's why she found herself at her mother's apartment that morning, after an evening of playing her cards right to ensure that her board of directors are loyal to _her_ cause and not her mother's. But Lillian Luthor didn't need to know her motivations, she just needed to be convinced that Lena's cause was hers as well. "They can't know. No one can suspect. If our dynamics changed and improved then if one of us gets caught, the other can't continue." Lena had said, a sickening feeling settling in her gut as she buried her own anger and displeasure with all of this deep, deep down inside.

"So what you're saying is…" her mother had started to say. The woman an expert in reading people herself.

But Lena can play that game better. She learned from the best. She learned how to play this game from Lionel Luthor himself.

And she learned from Lex too.

"I'm a Luthor and whatever I do, Lex is my brother. There are some things I can't outrun. Doesn't mean we can't play smart and divide and conquer." was her response.

Lillian Luthor regarded her daughter with curious interest. "And what is the catch, my dear? It can't be that easy."

"Supergirl." Lena replied with a smile despite the boiling anger deep inside her. It was like she was slowly ingesting poison in the hopes of building resistance to it, her mother's very presence becoming more and more toxic for her to bear. And to think she had craved her affections at one point. "She's mine to deal with."

"Do as you please with her then." Lillian Luthor had simply replied with a smile. "But when the time comes, bored or not with your _toy_ , you need to do what needs to be done."

A light _thump_ outside off her balcony had managed to bring her back to the present as she turned her chair around to see Supergirl landing outside and making her way inside her office. "You do know that door's not really an entrance, right?" Lena asked, a smile forming on her lips at the sight of her favorite Kryptonian. Supergirl looked confused and speechless for a moment, "Can I help you with anything Supergirl? Or are you just doing a fly by?"

"I just…" Supergirl started to say, making her way around Lena's desk. "I think I need to tell you something Lena."

"What about?" Lena asked, quirking a brow at the Kryptonian. Deep inside she had a feeling on what it could be about but she's already decided to play this game.

And of course Supergirl had been honest and Lena could barely hide the displeasure on her face upon hearing it from the girl of Steel herself. About her being abducted, strapped to a chair that could weaken her, and have her mother take a sample of her blood.

Something that could lead to very serious consequences.

Lena remained silent throughout the whole thing and she could sense that Supergirl had only wanted to ask for her help. She asked if she knew anything about her mother's activities that could help her figure out what she could have wanted.

Sadly, Lena still had no clue as to what Cadmus was up to, or for that matter where the base of operations were. So Lena played the hurt card, standing up from her chair and walking around her desk, moving closer to Supergirl and meeting her eyes straight on. Superman had always shown up outside of Lex's balcony whenever something new was going on in Metropolis, suspecting his involvement, she knew she could use that to her advantage right now, if anything she could use it to make sure on of her worse fears aren't true.

Supergirl was quick to reaffirm that she believes in Lena, that she was asking for help, that she was not accusing her. "I know Ms. Luthor, I know how it feels to be disillusioned by our parents. By our family." she said and Lena couldn't help but notice the hint of sadness in her eyes, making her wonder what could have happened to break Supergirl's heart like that. It was almost enough to make her break this charade and tell her everything she knew so far.

But she can't, because this _dangerous game_ must be played smart. It's about timing really, to strike at their lowest and weakest points and Lena knew that Cadmus had labs everywhere.

They needed to cripple Cadmus first, figure out the entirety of their plan. More than Project 13 and Lena's own suspicions, what was the vial of blood really for? They had to make sure they can't start up again. They attack prematurely and it could be all lost.

It was a gamble, but risks needed to be made if they wanted to win and end this once and for all.

Supergirl went on, her eyes meeting Lena's straight on as she said how she was too good and too smart to follow into her mother's footsteps, how she wasn't Lex and how Supergirl wasn't Superman. They were their own heroes.

And they had their own story.

"We can't let your mother hurt anyone else." Supergirl then said, her voice pleading.

 _And I can't let her hurt you again._ Lena thought. She knew, she was conflicted at that moment, she _felt_ conflicted.

Because she didn't want to have to lie or hide anything from Supergirl but she had to, if she wanted to keep her safe.

"I'll try to look into it Supergirl, but I'm afraid my mother and I don't exactly have the best relationship, I doubt she'll open up to me. I can't promise you anything. But if you need any help in stopping yet another threat from Cadmus, I'll be willing to help you." Lena replied, taking her eyes away from Supergirl's.

Supergirl nodded and thanked her before apologizing for dropping a bit of a truth bomb on her lap. Lena chuckled dryly before Supergirl had turned to leave, heading out to the balcony and flying away.

How Lex managed to play his little games sometimes, it was pure wonder to Lena. How could he stand so steadfast in his beliefs, maintain his innocence in something he was guilty of with such ease?

Not that she wasn't innocent. She was, but she was holding onto a double edged sword so tightly, fighting this battle in her own front, that she could see no way she could get to the end of this without being scarred.

It's because she cared too much, that's why it was hard. And Lex didn't.

But she's playing this game differently than Lex, so maybe there was hope for her in the end.

The opening of the doors to her office had caused her to snap back to the present. She got back to her desk and sat upright, pulling her chair closer to the desk as she watched Kara Danvers walk into her office like the sun chasing away the night.

Just last night Kara had made a surprise visit to her, and while she couldn't exactly put a finger on it, on why she was dropping in – because it sure was hell not to thank her for an interview, not in the way that Kara had instantly pulled her close into a tight hug as soon as Lena made her way towards her – but Lena had welcomed the intrusion.

She'll always welcome Kara dropping in for whatever reason, made up or not.

"Kara, back so soon for a visit? Are you making up for the week or so I didn't even see you, or is there something I can do for you?"

"No, I just, I wanted to check if you… I mean, you looked down last night, I figured you might want some company and away time from your desk. Have lunch maybe?" Kara replied, flashing a big radiant smile that was just too infectious for Lena to fight of.

"Here I thought you'd already have take-out in hand." Lena commented, slipping out of her chair as she made her way to gather her coat and bag. "You know, you just miss Supergirl again too. She was just coming in for a visit, checking in on things it would seem." Lena continued to say. Kara, in the meantime, was trying to mumble out an excuse about not having time or something, and how it was too bad she didn't see Supergirl and how they keep on missing each other was a coincidence that just sucked.

Lena couldn't help but try and suppress a chuckle. Kara should really realize that she's a terrible liar and should just hold her tongue instead of being on the defensive. "I mean, golly, it keeps on happening." Kara concluded, fidgeting a bit as she kept adjusting her glasses.

But then again Lena couldn't help but find how adorable it was that Kara kept on trying to find excuses as to why she and Supergirl couldn't just be in the same room together ever. Lena smiled grabbing Kara's arm with her own and the reporter couldn't help but smile as Lena gave her a questioning look.

"What?" Kara asked shyly, and if Lena would allow herself to believe it, she could see her blushing as well.

"Shall we?" Lena simply replied, forgetting about the heaviness that had surrounded her earlier that morning.

As they made out their way of the building, Kara talking about how Cat Grant could have possibly scared Kate Kane out of National City with the heiress being spotted in Gotham that morning, Lena couldn't help but think if she should just tell Kara the truth.

Kara's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, something more infectious than her smile, enveloping Lena in a warmth she's never felt. Lena's eyes found Kara's and smiled as the reporter smiled shyly once more.

The truth threatening to spill from her lips.

The truth that she knew.

She's always known.

And regardless of Lex's files, it wouldn't have been that hard to decipher. It was all because of Kara's eyes.

The blue of her eyes to be exact, and how she's never seen anything in the same kind of blue form this earth.

It was the same kind of blue in Supergirl's eyes, so ethereal and otherworldly and just impossibly blue. Kara could try to hide it behind the lenses, perhaps hoping that the glass would bend the light in such a way to make it seem like her eyes were just a normal shade of blue, but every now and then Lena would catch a glimpse of it that she just couldn't help but stare and be lost in it.

In those Kryptonian blue eyes Lena felt the warmth of the sun, making her wonder if she could ever reach the sky despite her fear of flying. She had always been tethered by the weight she's been afraid to shake off for years, afraid to suddenly fall because gravity won't ever let her soar.

And Lena would just keep on staring into Kara's eyes as she would talk about whatever it was that made her so passionate about living, all with the knowledge that if she stared too long she would definitely get lost in it.

And perhaps Kara would notice, but she never says anything about it.

But the truth can't slip out, and Lena fought the urge to do so. Kara was the radiant sun, shining brightly through any storm, and Lena was just a silhouette living in the tall shadows that her family had cast on her. When Kara asked where she wanted to eat lunch, she let the reporter decide. "Surprise me. You seem to know your way when it comes to the restaurants of National City." she replied and Kara couldn't help but laugh a little.

Kara Danvers, one hell of a reporter in the making, smiling and laughing nervously while her arms were linked with Lena's. It was quite a beautiful sight really. Kara had the power to be whoever she wanted, have whatever she wanted, and yet she chooses to live the simple and honest life that she's living.

She really was like the sun.

And for as long as she was around, Lena didn't feel the darkness around her anymore.

She'll keep the secret for now. It was Kara's to tell, and if she decided to let her know then she would welcome it. Perhaps it would be best that she kept it to herself too. If it meant protecting her too.

Because Kara's eyes had become Lena's new favorite shade of blue.

And she would do whatever it took to keep the light in them.

* * *

 

The rain fell at a steady rhythm that night, Kara watching the downpour from the dry safety of her windows. She was a little thankful that no crazy criminal, human or alien, decided to brave out the coming storm and that she gets a break from being a hero. It was nice to have breaks once and a while after all.

Alex was currently pissed and annoyed as hell despite J'onn feeling better. Mon-El and Winn were both keeping mum with whatever happened the other night that Kara had pretty much missed. Alex didn't want to talk about it, so she let it drop for now.

Then of course she finally gets a message from Clark saying he'll be dropping by in a few weeks, his hands currently tied with business with the league and then some. It was the ' _and then some'_ comment that had Kara worried a little, but she couldn't really do much about it either. She had no other choice but wait.

And waiting was the hardest thing to do. Especially when things were all quiet.

There was a knock on the door and Kara quickly remembered that things weren't going to be completely be a letdown that night. "I'm tired of talking to you about my mom and brother, I feel like I'm bumming you out, the first friend I make who's willing to listen and I turn you into my therapist, I guess that's how Luthors really are." she remembered Lena say during their lunch out earlier that day. "Well that and endlessly working."

"I don't believe you, Lena. I heard from Kate Kane you're quite the friend. And I mean, you know, you're a good friend to me too." Kara had given as a reply, not really sure of where anything was going. She had initially asked if she was doing better from the night before, Lena brushing off her moods as something with the board. Kara chose not to press on but somehow her concern over Lena had taken over. She wanted to make sure Lex wasn't threatening her life from beyond bars anymore, and given what she had known about her mom being behind Cadmus, Kara thought checking in with Lena about her mom would be a good way to go too. Make sure they weren't causing Lena problems in any front.

"Well, that's Kate. But anyone can be a better friend than her although I do suppose that an unreliable friend isn't that much to complain about what with my family being my family and all." Lena had replied and Kara could only guess and understand what kind of loneliness Lena felt

"Stop saying that." Kara had then said. "You're more than just a Luthor, Lena."

Lena smiled. "That's the first I've heard of that. Pray, tell me Kara, what do you mean? I know I'm trying to set myself apart right now but, well, that's a very difficult undertaking. All I can hope is change people's perspectives on what being a Luthor means because being a Luthor is all I've ever known to hold onto and be proud of growing up. With Lex's actions, it's only made me feel ashamed really, and I want to feel proud of being a Luthor again."

"But you _are_ more than that." Kara had argued. "You're Lena. You're too good and too smart to follow the same paths as your mom and brother." she had said, repeating her earlier words as Supergirl without really noticing it. But she didn't stop there, no, she didn't because at that point Kara couldn't help herself anymore. She wanted to take away the pain and the hurt and the shame and whatever it was that Lena had to bear all by herself because of a stupid name that was given to her. She was more than that, she was Lena Luthor and that meant something.

"You're warm and welcoming. You're strong, resilient, and kind and you're just so…" Kara went on, "…so, so beautiful." she then said breathlessly, staring straight into Lena's own green eyes, getting lost in them for a second. There was a change, she saw it, in the usual strong front that Lena had always put up. Her eyes grew soft with the surprise she had tried to hide upon hearing Kara's compliments, and Kara could feel Lena staring back at her in awe. As if it was the first time someone ever said anything like that – which was stupid because Lena was just so _Lena_ and anyone who couldn't see it, see how amazing she was, was blind. Kara had paused for a minute herself, thinking about something that had felt familiar when she said what she said, but it was somehow lost to her.

"You think I'm beautiful?" Lena had asked, lost for words. Kara couldn't but to start stuttering about how Lena was beautiful both inside and out, and how brave and smart she was. And oh, how Lena's eyes sparkled with a light that Kara thought she would never see upon hearing her words, her features softening, her smile becoming more and more relaxed as Lena was rendered speechless despite Kara fumbling over her words with her efforts to make the girl smile. Kara was herself becoming disarmed by how Lena grew more and more beautiful by the second as she smiled, and she didn't realize that it would be possible but it was.

"I think, I believe we make our own destiny, Lena, have our own legacy. We give our meaning to our own name and our own lives. And your family, they're stupid not to be proud of you, not to see the light shining in you. Don't let them dull it. You're amazing."

Lena smiled a little shyly, glancing away for a second before meeting Kara's eyes once more. "I'm glad there's someone out there who thinks that." was what Kara got as a reply.

And that's when Kara got a brilliant idea.

Kara opened the door to her apartment, stepping aside for a moment. It was a bit strange to see Lena dressed a little more comfortably in a black sweater that brought out the green of her eyes and in a simple pair of jeans, but Kara welcomed the sight of it. She had a box of pizza in one hand and a container of potstickers in the other, looking uncertain about Kara's plan.

"It's a night off Lena, you deserve it!" Kara had said, trying to convince the CEO earlier that day on their way back to L-Corp. Kara didn't realize just how foreign the concept of relaxing and watching a movie would be for Lena when she brought it up, which meant that this was serious business. She needed to put in all her efforts to convince Lena that she deserved some time off too. A time to forget murder plots, changing business directions, and dysfunctional family relations. "Besides you said it yourself, the only thing you know is work endlessly, I think it's time to change that. And as your first official friend in National City, it'll be an honor to host you for a night of binge watching movies at my apartment."

"Fine, if you're going to be so persistent about it, Kara." Lena replied with a smile as she tried to keep herself from laughing. Kara was being adamant about the whole thing. Really she was just happy she got Lena to agree to her idea without pouting.

But that was earlier today. "I kind of feel guilty I made you get the food in this kind of weather. The day started out so nice, who knew it would rain?" Kara said, as she moved around her kitchen, getting plates and setting the food aside. Lena tentatively made her way to the living room, Kara gesturing her to sit.

"Oh, it was the least I could do. Besides, I volunteered." Lena replied before shifting a little, a bit uneasy with the thought of just casually relaxing for a night. "I still don't know about this. I have a few meetings tomorrow and I should really…" Lena started saying, protesting about the idea of the whole evening once more.

"No." Kara said with a finality. "No shop talk from you. You deserve to rest too." Kara added, making her way to the living room balancing two plates and two bottles of water. "And, I don't know if I've introduced you to the perfect combination that is pizza and potstickers just yet. Come on Lena, friends hang out with each other, powerful CEO or otherwise."

Lena nodded and conceded, turning her phone off. "Okay then Kara, if you say so. I'm yours for the night." she replied, finally settling in on the couch making Kara blush a little with the comment.

Kara handed the remote – and by extension, full reign of the movie selection for the night – to Lena as Kara herself got more comfortable, admiring the light smile pulling at the corners of Lena's lips. Kara felt herself feel proud that her efforts were working.

And maybe, just seeing Lena relax, seeing the weight of the world on her shoulders momentarily be lifted, put her at ease. It wasn't even Supergirl who did the saving this time. It was _her_ , Kara Danvers.

The night was calm despite the rain and people everywhere were seeking shelter from the downpour.

Kara used her superhearing one last time that night to be sure and felt relief that everything in the city was safe and sound for once. She was thankful for that.

Yep, even heroes needed a day off for sure.

* * *

 

It wasn't supposed to be that way. But Alex was running on high emotions, the rain trying to wash it all away as it beat down on her. She's tired and quite frankly she just wants clear cut answers, answers that she wouldn't be getting anytime soon. She took a deep breath as she looked back at the closed door of the dive bar and proceeded to make her way to her bike, parked a little farther away than she liked. Her thoughts trying to untangle the mess of things.

J'onn had pretty much reprimanded all the DEO agents who chased after Kate Kane, her and Winn specifically especially after Winn slipped up and admitted they tried hacking information on Kate Kane, and the whole thing with the Oracle.

"I'm surprised you still haven't put two and two together." J'onn had muttered under his breath. Winn explaining that he couldn't access the rest of Kate Kane's files. J'onn just gave him a look and Alex understood what it meant.

After all, her files _were_ classified for a reason.

Then of course was the fact that Kate actually did help J'onn. Despite the comings and goings of feverish states, leaving him weak at times, the cuff managed to slow down J'onn's transformations.

Alex apologized but J'onn still refused to explain anything about Kate Kane, this time though, it was mostly because he was upset that they went behind his back.

But what's really getting under Alex's skin was how easy it had been for Kate to beat her. She was barely putting in the effort to dodge and block her attacks. She barely even winced when her kick landed on her injury.

The injury Alex had inflicted when she fired one of her warning shots at her the night Kara disappeared. Her not so much of a warning kind of warning shots.

Which begs the question, what was she doing on the rooftops that night, hiding behind the shadows. Alex couldn't quite pick up her gear then, the dark of night providing Kate the leverage.

What did she want with Supergirl? That was the next question.

The third was that she most definitely was Maggie's source. And maybe that's why she was a little too hot headed when she came to meet the detective at the dive bar.

"It's not my secret to tell Danvers." Maggie had replied exasperated. "I know you care about Supergirl but Kate's not the enemy."

"Then why did she come running back to Gotham?"

"Personal reasons." Maggie had then said, trying to get herself to calm down a bit.

But that wasn't enough for Alex. "If she's a friend, then why hide in the shadows. Why do you keep defending her anyways?"

"People have secrets for a reason, Danvers. Sometimes we keep them to protect the people we care about."

"Then why won't you tell me what's going on?" Alex had asked, her voice sounding really hurt.

"I wish I knew everything. Kate knows more and she's better fit to explain things to you." Maggie reasoned. "You don't have to trust her, Alex, but you can trust me."

"I really want to Maggie, but not when you keep protecting her..."

"You don't know Kate the way I do." Maggie continued.

"Like how?" Alex had asked, trying to control the anger rising in her tone, the question sounding a bit more sarcastic than anything. She understood why J'onn was pissed and won't tell her about anything but Maggie? Just how close… "Oh."

"Oh?" Maggie then repeated, surprised with the sudden change in Alex's tone.

"Y-you and her… Back in Gotham…" Alex had started to say. And with all the things happening in her life, the realization that Kate Kane and Maggie had once been… lovers… it might have been the most damning thing of all.

The way Maggie defended her like she's trying to protect her. Alex couldn't help but be jealous of that.

Especially with what Maggie said about giving things a try at their own pace, and how…

…it was just all too much.

"That's not the point of anything." Maggie had then said, sensing that Alex was putting two and two together. "Look, Alex, we're friends."

"Yes, _we_ are. _Just friends._ " Alex gave as a reply, hurt evident in her tone.

Maggie had closed the distance between the two of them, her hands grabbing both of Alex's, giving them a squeeze. "No, Alex. Me and Kate. The past… it's complicate and way over and done, but the two of us _are_ friends. You and I though… What I feel has nothing to do with what I can or can't say."

"Right." Alex had then said nodding, the cracks in her voice evident. It started with wanting to solve a mystery and searching for some piece of truth.

It was ending with her heart on the line again.

That was when she decided to back off slowly away from Maggie, "I'll… I'll catch you later, Sawyer." she had said, trying to keep it together.

"Ugh, Alex!" Maggie then called after her.

The light pitter-patter of the rain had become a steady beating rhythm as the storm ahead of them just got stronger. Alex braved the rain, pulling onto her jacket, zipping it up, as she made her way to her bike. The weather perfectly mimicking her mood.

"Alex!" Maggie called out again, running after her in the rain. "It's not what you think it's about. Things are just… they're complicated." she explained, slowing down her pace as she reached Alex. "It's _you_ Alex. Just you. The only one I have feelings for, that much is all I can say is clear."

Alex tried to say something but stopped when she felt Maggie's lips crashing into her own.

The skies were unforgiving, their lives more complicated than ever. Too many secrets and miscommunication were keeping them all apart.

But maybe they can find some shelter in this storm to figure things out after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but the chapters are getting longer and longer… at least compared to how I intended them to be… haha? The next few chapters might not be as long as this one (who knows really?) but we'll see.
> 
> Up next: familiar friends and familiar foes showing up… the ones I really, really hope would one day grace the DC shows… ;) I'll also start untangling a few things, I promise! :D
> 
> Also, PS, the science above with J'onn is entirely hand-wavy. I have no idea if that's even possible, I'm just using rudimentary knowledge from biochem as basis for something I'm making up entirely :P Bottomline, take it with a grain of salt :)


	9. New Friends, New Foes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! First of all, thank you SO MUCH for the support so far, the kind words, and all. You guys have been amazing readers and if anything it makes me want to give it my all with each update and of course motivate me to write them.
> 
> Anyways, here is chapter 9 featuring a villain more prominently shown as a foe for Batman, the Teen Titans, and more recently to Arrow in the TV show. The chapter also contains some action, an award winning 'how to ask a girl out' take, and some fun Danvers sister interactions.

Alex was buzzing with happiness even three days later.

That kiss was… it was _everything_.

"You look too happy. You've actually been like that for three days that it's starting to feel suspicious." J'onn started to say after running into Alex near the medical bay. "Should I be concerned?"

"N-no. No. Everything's fine." Alex replied. "How are you feeling?"

J'onn nodded. The fevers had past and he was mostly back to being his old self. The tremors haven't returned just yet either. So far the cuffs had been working.

The Green Martian soon excused himself to check on a few things before Supergirl arrived and Alex found herself going about her own way too, still stuck in her thought. It's been only three days but Alex was happy that she and J'onn had somewhat gotten back to their usual dynamic after not talking for a few days. J'onn had finally broken the ice, pulling Alex in a conference room to talk privately about the matter of Kate Kane.

"Look, J'onn. I know I made a mistake, and if she's helping us, then great. I don't know why she won't just give everything to us now but, hey, if you trust her... Doesn't mean I have to like her though." Alex had said.

"We both think discussing the full matter at hand would be best when Superman gets here. This mostly concerns him. And Lex Luthor." J'onn had then explained. "But if you two would like to meet when she gets back from Gotham…"

"I don't think that's the wisest idea." Alex had replied. All was cleared and forgiven, but she was still completely annoyed at the fact that she got beaten by a smug heiress.

She'll get her day for sure.

Then there was the fact that she was Maggie's ex- _fiancé._

And while Maggie was adamant there was nothing between the two of them other than friendship and camaraderie over the things that they've been through together, she was still all kinds of ticked off that they had a close friendship. Maggie kept mum regarding what had happened between the two of them but the hint of sadness in the detective's eyes made Alex's heart twitch a little.

No she wasn't jealous.

Okay, maybe she was a little bit jealous.

But that didn't compare to the third reason why she didn't like her, which was the fact that she was there when Kara got abducted.

Kate Kane's knowledge of kryptonite and Cadmus was what made her a possible threat to Alex, because her sister comes first, above anything else. But Alex was willing to wait this one out, just for a little while longer at least.

They still have their hands full at the moment, only finally dealing with all the super-powered animals in their care the other day. All that was left now was a dog and a cat that Kara couldn't seem to part with anytime she was at the DEO.

The kryptonite problem was also only being solved now, with the DEO planning to move and dispose the batches of silver and gold kryptonite soon. J'onn claiming that Superman's league of friends were willing to help deal with the problem. Something Alex was delighted to hear when J'onn explained what they did – gold kryptonite can take away a Kryptonian's powers permanently, and silver causes hallucinations and paranoia.

Definitely not risking Supergirl or Superman to be exposed to that.

She saw Kara land on the balcony of the DEO base and Alex immediately made her way to her sister, a skip in her step. They had serious business for the day, true, what with the mayor of the city being sent a rather mysterious death threat. He had proposed to create a community center to help new aliens in the city adjust to life on earth, get their necessities, jobs, the whole package. Today was the inauguration of the center, and the day marked on the calendar by the person who sent the death threat.

While no one was sure if the person, or persons, responsible for it were anti-alien sympathizers or aliens themselves, Alex was damn sure that the DEO can handle it if they're help was needed. At the very least, she was sure Supergirl can.

So serious matter or not, Alex was all but ready to continue her three day streak of teasing her sister.

"You're unbelievable, Alex. Please at least tell me you deleted that picture. It's embarrassing!" Supergirl said as soon as Alex reached her, Kara's face all flushed.

It was a harmless picture. The day after Maggie kissed her, Alex headed straight to Kara's to talk. She would have done it the very same night except she and Maggie ended up talking, clarifying where they stood once again and Maggie insisting that despite the crazy that were surrounding them, she still does want to take the baby steps with Alex. She herself needed some time to think about it, knowing Maggie's words made sense. They were caught up in some complicated plot with Cadmus and aliens, and Superman, and Lex, and it was just all too much to process all at the same time.

So going at things one at a time made sense. Making sure that whatever it was that the two of them had, it wasn't going to get dragged into the muddy waters of their work.

But just as Alex had stepped into Kara's apartment, box of donuts in hand, she ended up stumbling upon the same scene she had the day after the Cadmus abduction incident.

There she was, Lena Luthor, once again having fallen asleep in her sister's arms. Only it was different this time. Both Kara and Lena looked rested, the CEO dressed more to the occasion of hanging out in Kara's apartment than going to a business meeting. Boxes of potstickers and pizza were everywhere, and the TV left on, the evidence of the movie marathon that started the night before, the latest Star Wars movie still playing – which Alex guessed must have been Lena's choice since Kara was more of a romantic comedy kind of girl.

Other than the fact that there was a Luthor sleeping in Kara's arms on her couch, Alex couldn't help but smile and find the whole scene rather… well… adorable. Not wanting to disturb their peace this time, Alex had snuck back out and waited for Kara's usual check in at the DEO before she started to ask her sister about the night before.

Much to Alex's own surprise, Kara had been all kinds of flustered by the picture. Ahe already knew Kara would be all awkward and start rambling on explanations, however, she didn't expect face-flushed full-force incoherence. Really, the only reason why she's still teasing Kara about it was to get a better read on her sister. It was one thing that she cared a lot about Lena, it was another if she had feelings for a Luthor.

And while Alex tried to share Kara's enthusiasm and bright outlook – Lena did help them with finding J'onn when he got in trouble with Roulette's fight club so that's points for her too – she wants to make sure that if it was something _more_ , Lena Luthor wasn't just playing her sister.

Alex still couldn't help but snigger though. "I don't know Kara, I still think there's something you're not telling me."

Granted, Alex was partially worried about it, but she does want to know. She wants to be there for her sister if there _is_ anything. "What if Lena finds out about it?" she heard Kara then ask. "How do I explain my weirdo sister who sneaks into my apartment to take random pictures?"

"Oh, you act like it's something scandalous. If it's really nothing then it's just an innocent picture, don't you think?" Alex replied.

"Are we talking about the picture with Lena Luthor again?" Winn then asked, joining them with a cup of coffee in hand, his tablet in the other.

"Winn knows?" Kara asked exasperated and in disbelief.

"I overheard." he replied with a shrug. "Besides, it wasn't hard to get Alex to show the picture."

"More like try and hack my phone because of your curiosity." Alex then said, smacking Winn in the head.

"What was that for?" Winn then asked, doing his best attempt of trying to play the innocent card before turning his attention to Kara, making a comment on something about a rooftop talk that got Kara all flustered again. Alex wanted to get a clarification on it when J'onn had called their attention to the main room of their control center.

"Looks like the attack is real." J'onn then said, noting the alarms going around city hall, video feeds from street cams showing heavily armed cars on the streets.

"Guess it's time Supergirl showed up." Winn then said, giving a nod at Kara's direction.

Kara nodded and turned. "Supergirl, be careful." Alex noted while all other available agents got ready.

Kara gave her sister a smile as a response before taking off to the skies.

It's been quite for a few days, and it's nice to finally have something to take their minds off of Cadmus. Alex wasted no time and getting ready herself to springing into action.

Duty calls.

* * *

When Kara got to city hall, the threat on the mayor's life had been made clear.

When the letter arrived a few weeks ago, law enforcement agencies thought it was a hoax. Just a threat. Nothing on their advance search algorithms or case files pointed to a single suspect or any cult group that could claim responsibility over it. Soon the threat was forgotten, the letter itself clumsily made. People assumed it was a prank.

But then a week ago, the threat was made real again when a letter was once again received. No fuss was made about it publicly but the DEO was alerted this time. Especially since the letter was sent with a decapitated finger of an alien species that Kara quickly identified as Durlan.

The police was quick to the scene, making sure civilians didn't get all caught up with the attack. Three armed vehicles were currently fighting its way through police cars and deployed DEO agents on motorcycles. Those of the attacking group who were on ground were all dressed up similarly with blackish blue body suits, orange vests and pads, and black masks. They came equipped with heavy arms, swords, and knives.

Kara quickly handled a group of the renegades with her freeze breath. She did a quick scan of the area with her X-ray vision, made sure all tactical groups were being handled as she assessed the situation. She lent a hand or two when a police car was nearly blown up, a grenade finding its way into the vehicle. She quickly lifted the car up and threw it up into the air before it exploded, swiftly catching the debris with the help of her superspeed.

The mayor had been led inside the city hall upon her arrival. As soon as more DEO agents reached the scene of the attack, Kara did a quick scan to make sure that he and his family was safe.

However, they were not.

They were currently held in the mayor's office, his security detail being picked off one by one, squatted like bugs, by an enormous man in a dual colored mask, half black and half orange.

Kara quickly zoomed in with no hesitation, and crashed into the mercenary, slamming him against a wall. To Kara's surprise, the man had laughed. "So it is true, the Girl of Steel is just as strong as her cousin."

Kara backed off a little with that comment, studying the man who was shaking off the sudden impact. "Traded a few punches with him once or twice." the mercenary then said before pulling out a knife and lunging towards Kara.

Supergirl kept up the fight as best she could, but the mercenary before her was skillful and strong. If Kara was being honest, that wasn't exactly what she was expecting. The two traded punches for a while, the mercenary taking a swipe with the knife whenever he found an opening. "Who are you?" Kara asked.

She heard a chuckle from behind the mask, "A mercenary for hire." he replied, pointing out the obvious. Kara was about to say something in response when she was caught off guard by her opponent, throwing a grenade towards the direction of the mayor's office. Kara zoomed in time to catch it and used her body to shield the grenade away from everything else. To Kara's surprise, the grenade wasn't an explosive.

Instead it released green smoke everywhere, Kara getting a whiff of it, making her start coughing immediately.

If the skills of her opponent didn't worry her to begin with, the fact that he had grenades with kryptonite mist would.

" _Tch_. Predictable." she heard the mercenary say as he made his way towards her. Kara scrambled on her feet as he raised the knife above her, to Kara's horror, the knife actually sliced through her suit, deeply cutting through her skin. "The blade's laced with kryptonite, girl. This isn't my first rodeo." he then explained.

He tried to strike again and Kara mustered all her strength for a counter kick that had sent him flying to the other side of the hall, the knife dropping a few feet away from her. The mercenary stood up, again, pulling out two handguns as he readied himself to fire when Guardian appeared with his shield, blocking the bullets that were aimed at Kara.

Kara briefly wondered if the bullets were laced with kryptonite as well, before Guardian's voice registered in her thoughts. "Supergirl, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I will be." Kara said, traces of kryptonite still hung in the air, causing her to cough a bit. Guardian nodded and turned his attention on the mercenary.

"This isn't your fight kid." the mercenary said as Guardian tried to pull one of his tricks to try and catch their opponent, But the mercenary swiftly evaded his attacks, threw away his shield, and pinned him to the other side of the hall.

Kara braced herself for another attack, trying to focus as best as she can. She was backed up against the door of the mayor's office, the hall she was in stretching on both sides. She tried to come up with a solid plan, whatever one she can come up with that would save the mayor and end this fight.

She needed to get everyone to safety, including herself, her opponent proving to be far more capable than they initially thought. The only means of escape now were the windows on either side of the hall or through the mayor's office. But that would leave the Guardian behind.

And Kara couldn't bring herself to do that.

The mercenary was quick to his feet, unsheathing the sword on his back as he made his way to Kara and Kara was all but ready to meet him head on, if only to buy more time to get everyone out, when smoke started to surround them. Kara tried to focus her vision on the mercenary who was caught off guard when a crashing sound was heard from somewhere and she saw the silhouette of her opponent be taken away by someone else with a cape.

Another crash was heard somewhere as the fighting ensued.

When the smoke started to clear, Kara noted two vents on the ceiling were left opened and the windows to the left of the hallway shattered. But the mercenary was gone, Guardian was trying to get up and recover, and when Kara opened the doors, the day was saved.

Only Kara knew that it wasn't really over.

* * *

"You okay?" Alex asked, holding a medical report in her hand as she came and checked on Maggie in the medical bay of the DEO.

"Yeah, I will be." Maggie replied with a smile, she remembered their first case together, how she needed up in the same place the first time too.

Alex gave out a sigh of relief. "Well, nothing's broken, just a few stitches from that cut." she said, raising the file to point at Maggie's injury and Maggie nodded, taking her jacket and putting it on. "Who stitched you up? I think I could have done a better job."

Maggie chuckled. "Didn't know you took pride with your own work, Danvers. Besides, you were busy checking on Supergirl."

"You know, Supergirl and I, it's not really a thing." Alex then clarified, finally cluing in on Maggie's slight jealousy of the superheroine.

Maggie nodded. "I know. Just, seriously, didn't know anything can cut through her skin. I heard some agents talking about kryptonite, was that what it was that caused it?"

Alex shifted a little, biting her lip. Maggie could tell she was uneasy to talk about this topic and she wasn't intending on pushing on the subject – she's heard before that Superman had a weakness, and Lex Luthor and some of his other enemies had tried to use it against him before despite Maggie not knowing what it really was – but with a sigh Alex nodded.

"It's a part of Supergirl's planet before. A rock that reminded Kryptonian's of home, but the effects aren't exactly nice." she then said as the two of them made their way out of the medical bay and headed towards the control room.

"Thanks for telling me." Maggie said adopting a more somber tone. Alex trusting her with that information meant a lot. If there was something out there that was capable of killing a Kryptonian then it was definitely serious business, especially someone as skillful as…

"Right! Deathstroke!" Maggie then exclaimed just as they reached the control room. J'onn turned to her and regarded her with a questioning look, Winn mouthing the name as a question, repeating what Maggie had said.

"What do you mean Detective Sawyer?" J'onn then asked with a stern look.

"The guy who attacked the mayor's office, he's called Deathstroke." Maggie then said, Winn wasting no time in typing up the name to pull up any information he could.

"Right, he said he's traded blows with my cousin before." Supergirl then said, making her presence known in the control room.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Alex then asked her.

"I'm feeling better now." Supergirl then replied. "Yep, that's him, the masked guy." she added as soon as Winn pulled out the files.

"Slade Wilson, also goes by the name Deathstroke, the Terminator – someone's got the naming thing down to a tee. Says here he's a mercenary for hire, served in the military in the past. He volunteered for an experimental procedure that would increase a soldier's ability to resist truth serums but the experiment failed."

"It didn't fail, it just resulted in something else. He's got nearly superhuman strength, increased agility and durability. He's like a super soldier." Maggie then explained, Alex turning to look at her, a question in her mind. "We've encountered him in Gotham a few times, also trading blows with Batman himself and his associates. He's been giving a friend of mine trouble at Bludhaven too."

Alex took in a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "So we have essentially a murderous super soldier in our hands free to roam the city until we find him."

"Um, I don't think we need to look that hard." Winn then said pulling up Cadmus' new propaganda video. Chaos in the streets because of alien sympathizers. They didn't take credit for the attack, they just pointed out that there were people against the registration act, against the naturalization of aliens. Capable and skillful people who were already deathly lethal without alien technology. What would happen if they do?

"Are there videos always this passive-aggressive with the threats?" Maggie found herself asking and Alex couldn't help but chuckle.

"At least we have an idea who's behind it." Supergirl then said in a serious tone.

After the video played, Winn pulled up a live news update on the mayor and his family, asking the citizens of National City to not cower in fear.

He still insisted in pursuing the center, despite the attack, and plans on moving the inauguration in two days instead. While the city hall sustained a bit of damage, the center, which was right across from the city hall, remained intact. He was expecting the citizens to be vigilant, increasing security detail for the event and possibly enlisting government help.

Which Maggie knew meant that the DEO would be there to help the police and quite possibly the real FBI.

Especially since Cadmus' threat _did_  mention alien technology.

It didn't take two days, however...

Maggie had an already busy day, what with the daytime attack and all. She made a quick stop at Kate's apartment to check if she's gotten back from Gotham. From Supergirl's retelling of the day's events, both the Guardian and an unknown cape crusader came to help them out.

But the apartment was empty.

And Maggie found herself standing in an empty loft, Kate Kane once again disappearing on her. Without a trace, without a word.

Just a note that says she was going back to Gotham for a while.

After getting a bit of work done that afternoon, Maggie found herself at the dive bar, Alex issuing another challenge in the form of a game of pool. But Alex didn't show up. Instead Maggie got a call from the DEO agent about an attack at the community center involving a team of mercenaries and, as expected, alien tech.

"I'm on my way, Danvers." Maggie replied.

"Actually, I'm headed towards the mayor's house, make sure that they're not targets again. I've got Supergirl on the way to the center, also have news that Guardian's on his way to help there too. I have a suspicion that it's just a distraction." Alex said over the phone.

Not really a bad assumption. Quite brilliant actually.

Deathstroke doesn't miss his targets, and the mayor _was_ still alive. Sending Supergirl to face off against those with alien tech would be the smarter move.

It doesn't take Maggie long to get to where Alex was.

And it doesn't take long before the mayor's house was indeed under attack.

But at least they were dealing with plain ol' normal bullets.

Alex didn't come without back up and soon it was bullets flying everywhere in the mayor's front lawn, along with some physical forms of scuffle between some of the seasoned DEO agents and a few of NCPD's finest backing up Alex and Maggie against a group of mercenaries. "I think I see him." Alex told Maggie while hiding behind the fountain on the front lawn.

"Who? Deathstroke?"

"Yeah, he's heading towards the back. Cover me?" Alex asked and Maggie smiled.

"Do you really need to ask, Danvers?" she replied. "I'll always have your back, despite this really being suicidal of you. We can't beat him."

"Good to know how much faith you have in me." Alex then replied with a chuckle.

"You're an awesome agent, Danvers, but he's on his own league." Maggie reasoned. "But I have faith in you, and between the two of us maybe we _can_ actually come up with a way to stop him."

"Good." Alex replied with a grin and the two were off.

It doesn't take much for Deathstroke to spot them though and soon he was trading fire with them.

Maggie was quick to her feet, pushing Alex out of the way, the two of them barely dodging the bullet as they tumbled into a topiary somewhere in the back garden. Alex's body tensed beneath Maggie's own, sensing the coming footsteps from their enemy when the unmistakable sounds of Supergirl's heat vision hit its target.

"Guess I owe you." she then heard Alex say, making Maggie remember that she was still on top of her.

"Right." Maggie replied, hurriedly getting up. Of all the times she would feel flustered around Alex, now was not the time.

And yet, she was.

Alex smiled back as she helped her up and Maggie couldn't help but wonder if the glimpse of a blush tainting Alex's cheek was really there or if it was just her imagination. Just behind the topiary, they could hear Supergirl battling Deathstroke while the agents and the police were still dealing with mercenaries from the front lawn.

"Oh, to hell with this." Maggie said, pulling out her gun and shooting one of Deathstrokes mercenaries as she headed towards them before he could even successfully pull out his knife and attack. Alex was a little busy incapacitating another one that tried to sneak behind Maggie.

"I'm sorry?" Alex then asked. Four more of Deathstrokes' henchmen were on their way for an attack, Supergirl managed to sling one of their comrades trying to double team her with Deathstroke against the fifth one sneaking up on the pair for an unexpected assist.

Alex managed to break a few bones from one of the masked cronies after that by pulling a move Maggie's never seen before. Maggie couldn't help but chuckle at how easy it was for the DEO agent to do. "How about dinner?" she then asked, before elbowing the guy sneaking up after her. The guy backed off a little before pulling out his knife, Maggie swiftly and effectively disarmed him.

"Really asking at a time like this?" Alex asked out of breath, tying down two of the four that surrounded them before turning her attention to the fourth who was recovering from a kick Alex landed earlier.

But Maggie was quicker, knocking the guy off with a huge clay pot of sunflower near the topiary before turning her attention back to the guy who was keeping her busy. "You know, I wanted to wait but I figure now is as good of a time as any considering we always end up in situations like this." Maggie explained as he pinned down her opponent. "That or we end up arguing about things that we really shouldn't be arguing about. What do you say, Danvers?"

Alex chuckled and shook her head as Maggie managed to cuff the guy she was fighting against. "I guess ... So yeah, sure. It's a date."

Maggie picked herself up, dusting herself off. "Good. It's a date." Maggie replied.

Form behind a topiary a flash bomb went off and Slade Wilson escaped.

Once things were clear, Supergirl checked on the mayor, the DEO and the police rounded up the attackers, and Alex got an update that the Guardian managed to handle everything on their end with the help of the Daxamite they have hanging around the DEO, explaining how Supergirl managed to assist them in the end.

Maggie definitely has had one of her longest days ever. What's worse is it definitely may still not be over.

At least the fight with Wilson wasn't.

But the smile on Alex's face was worth it.

Besides, she's got a hot date to look forward to herself, for as long as the world decides to stay safe long enough for a proper one.

* * *

" _No_ , you're not going to. _Please_ Lena, listen to reason." Kara said, standing up from her seat, leaning against the white metal desk in her office. Her voice was a little louder than usual, tone pleading and desperate. Her notebook had fallen on the floor too, but she really didn't care – she was there under the pretense of writing a story about L-Corp's involvement with the now destroyed community center. The assignment was real, of course, just that Kara's main reason for coming to see Lena was to persuade her to cancel the fundraiser she was hosting at L-Corp for the benefit of both rebuilding the community center and city hall.

It was a noble effort, and really Kara couldn't help but admire Lena's persistence with having L-Corp be a force for good. But with Slade Wilson still out there and under Cadmus employment, anyone doing anything pro-alien initiatives have their lives in danger. Heck, even the mayor was still badly shaken from the attempt on his life two days ago. An attempt that happened twice in one day. Kara doesn't care if Lena's mother is the head of Cadmus, or for that matter if she cared or not about Lena. What mattered was that Lena's life was in danger, and Kara wasn't going to simply sit by and watch her take the risks over and over again.

But Lena simply met Kara's sudden outburst with an amused look, quirking an eyebrow at the sudden display of emotion from the usually meek reporter. Kara, having realized the error of her ways started to straighten up, fidgeting as she readjusted her glasses, hands trembling slightly as she smoothened her shirt. "S-sorry, I just…"

"I'm glad to see you care, Kara, but this event has to happen. Besides, I thought you of all people would actually be happy about it, what with your pro-alien sentiments."

"Please don't tell me you're doing this for me, Lena." Kara said, taking back her seat and Lena simply smiled and shook her head.

"I have a neutral stance on the whole alien thing, you know that, but I do believe in the mayor's cause. Humans have the right to know who among the people in our streets are not one of them, doesn't mean we can't build a society with both sides having an understanding. We can't unjustly hate something we don't know, I know that much. So if we can have aliens successfully integrated in our society – aliens who want to cause no harm on the human race, if I may add – then I think helping them may be of benefit in the end." the CEO explained.

Kara nodded. "But you're still taking an awful big risk Lena. You're not up against run-of-the-mill goons -" Kara started to say until she was cut short with her words because Lena couldn't help but laugh at Kara's selection of words. "It's not funny, I'm being dead serious!" Kara then added, but it was too late. Her argument fell flat as she couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips causing her to laugh just as Lena did.

"I know, Kara, but who says 'goons' nowadays?" Lena retorted with an amused smile.

"I- that's beside the point." Kara replied, trying to get herself together. She couldn't help it, the moment Lena Luthor smiles or laughs Kara was reduced to a bumbling, laughing, smiling mess of an idiot who couldn't even string two sentences together. How she manages to keep it together as Supergirl whenever she was around Lena was a mystery, but perhaps the urgency of whatever it is that brings her as Supergirl on Lena's balcony takes precedence over Lena's own superpowers over her. As Kara Danvers however, she gets to relax more and lower her defenses and Kara finds it so easy to forget about everything else that wasn't Lena. Kara knew that one of these days, the CEO was going to crack through the façade, and try as she may, Kara won't be able to stand a chance.

But now wasn't that day. Kara was still Kara, Lena's friend, her first friend at National City and with Kate Kane gone in her life the past few days, her _only_ friend. "What I'm saying is you'll be up against actual mercenaries." she continued, sounding very much desperate to get the point across.

But Lena shrugged it off and smiled. "We can't live in fear Kara." Lena said, adopting a more serious tone despite the softness in her eyes. A softness that Kara was starting to notice was only reserved for her.

Not even Supergirl.

For some reason, Lena was always playful and coy around her as Supergirl.

"I know that, Lena. But what if _that_ mercenary goes after you?" Kara asked out of genuine concern. What Lena said was true, they can't live in fear. But Slade Wilson – Deathstroke – was as skillful and merciless as hired soldiers come. What's worse is that he knows Kara's weakness.

"Then I'll just have to ask Supergirl to come and help me out again, like during the gala for the children's hospital." Lena said in a decisive tone.

"Supergirl, right." Kara then found herself saying

Lena smiled as she looked up at Kara and bit her lip. "Do you think you can help me reach out to Supergirl again?"

"Y-yeah. No, yeah, definitely." Kara then said, her thoughts already getting ahead of her.

Looks like she was going to do another dual action with Supergirl, especially with Lena having already invited her to the event as soon as she came in.

Because how on earth can Kara ever say no to Lena?

Kara pretty much spent the rest of the day coming up with a plan – a very concrete and sure fire hit of a plan, or at least the closest thing they can ever get to one – to beating Deathstroke. With his kryptonite laced weapons, and that kryptonite mist bombs, she's gonna need all the help she can get.

"Maybe we can make something like a lead mask?" Winn threw out as a suggestion when she dropped by the DEO.

"First of all, where do I even hide that?" Kara then asked. "Second of all, that doesn't help with the knife and sword and what if he's got more tricks up his sleeve he hasn't tried using?"

"I can help." Mon-El then said, entering the training room Kara, Winn, and Alex were in.

" _You_ can help?" Alex asked, astonished by Mon-El's change of heart with his thoughts on heroism.

"Look, I'm not saying I wanna play the hero here, but you do need someone who can go up against that supersoldier guy. I'm not affected by kryptonite like Supergirl, so if there's big trouble she can't handle I can step up." Mon-El gave as an explanation.

"You just want to go to the party, don't you?" Kara then deadpanned prompting the Daxamite to smile innocently.

"Maybe." Mon-El replied with a boyish grin. "But I am serious. Last time you went-up against kryptonite – you know, before Deathstroke – you were abducted and we had to rescue you."

Alex crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully, Kara could tell she was considering this as an option. "But you're gonna need something better than a standard issue DEO uniform though. If you start using your powers, you might as well have a costume that can resist wear and tear."

"We still have his alien clothes somewhere." Winn then said absentmindedly. "Oh, we can probably call Guardian for back-up too." he added.

"Why, do you have a calling card for Guardian? Or is he starting to flash a symbol in the night's sky too now?" Kara then asked.

"W-well, I just, I figured…" Winn then started rambling. "I mean, when did you get all sarcastic?"

"I'm just saying, dangerous merc is dangerous. He said he's traded blows with Kal and if he's free to be up and about I'm guessing he managed to hold his own."

"Or, you know, prison break." Winn then said earning him a look from both Alex and Kara herself. "I'm saying the new vigilante in town would probably be there anyways, you know, ready to jump in action."

Kara sighed. "Well, let me know if you guys come up with better ideas. I need to go see Lena, maybe I can convince her not to go through with this."

"I thought you already did that?" Alex asked as Kara made her way out.

Kara smiled. "Yeah, but not as Supergirl." she replied and with that she was gone.

Up, up, and away through the clouds.

The flight towards L-Corp was short and by now very familiar. Only one thought was running through Kara's mind.

Okay, maybe two.

One was that she _will_ stop Deathstroke and succeed where others failed. She couldn't let someone like him free to do as he pleased on the streets, or sell his abilities and services to groups like Cadmus.

The second was Lena. No, she doesn't care if her mother was behind Deathstroke, if she sent the soldier for hire only as a threat or to seriously kill her own daughter just because she stood in her way – a thought that sickens Kara greatly. She wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt Lena. Not even harm a single strand of hair on Lena's head.

_No one._

Kara landed with a soft _thud_ on the balcony and right on cue Lena turned around from her chair with a smile. Lena met her halfway, the CEO standing up from her chair to reach for the glass door leading to the balcony. She stepped aside to let Supergirl inside. "You know, we have to stop meeting like this." she said with a bright smile on her face.

Kara returned the smile and shook her head as she walked inside and turned around to face the CEO. "You mean meet whenever your life may or may not be in danger?" she replied, keeping matters light.

She really didn't want to add to Lena's burden by pointing out that Lillian Luthor may very well be the one who hired Deathstroke in the first place. Lena already had a lot on her plate.

It was a burden Kara would gladly take for her.

Lena gave her a curious look, her lips curling into a playful smile. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor to match that wit." she commented and Kara could feel it, the light scratches on that façade.

Despite the confidence that naturally comes out of her as Supergirl, Lena's effect on her was growing ever so strong.

 _It's that_ look _in her eyes. That is definitely it._ Kara thought to herself.

The one that Kara just couldn't read.

The one that looks like she's trying to read Kara. That she's trying to figure out something that she already knew about her.

A look that challenges Kara, but challenge her to do what? Kara couldn't figure out.

The playful smile turned into a half smirk, as if Kara's silence was enough for Lena to figure out whatever it was she was trying to sense or get a feel for. "This is serious Ms. Luthor." Kara finally said, remembering how English sounds like.

Because in truth she may or may not have almost said something in Kryptonian only to stop herself a second before she opened her mouth, her brain turning into mush as she tries to constantly fight the mysterious power that keeps drowning her closer and closer to Lena, to figuring her out... to knowing her...

Yeah, Lena's effect on her was that strong.

"I know, that's why I'm asking for your help again." Lena then replied.

"I don't suppose you have another plan hidden up your sleeve? I've faced him, Ms. Luthor, the man leading the mercenaries attacking National City. Twice. And twice he met me in every way, in every blow. Twice he managed to escape." Supergirl said with all honesty.

Lena nodded, looking thoughtful at her words as she looked away for a brief second. "We'll just have to see." Lena then said, her eyes meeting Kara's once more, the playfulness was gone and was replaced with concern. Nevertheless, Lena smiled, "I have faith in you Supergirl. Know you're not alone in doing the best you can for this city."

Kara bit her lip before smiling tentatively. "I'll do my best." she replied. "And I believe in you too Lena Luthor." she added with a brighter smile.

And if Kara would allow herself to believe it, Lena Luthor smiled, looking briefly away. "So Kara and I will see you at the party?"

"Y-yes. Yeah." Kara then replied, once again remembering her conundrum of being in two places at one time. "Kara Danvers and I will be there. Both of us." she managed to say before giving an awkward wave goodbye – _Seriously Kara, what is wrong with you?_ Kara chastised herself – and before finding herself once again in the company of the clouds and the stars.

She took a deep breath and steadied her nerves, for some reason she could feel something fluttering inside her. Kara wasn't sure if it was just trepidation at the thought of facing Slade Wilson for a third time or for trying to pull a seeing double with Lena again.

She only knew it was there.

But whatever the cause of it, she was trying to keep it under control as soon as possible. She had more important matters at hand and she needed to be prepared.

* * *

Supergirl swooped in, making an early appearance at the gala. The crowd gasped at the sudden appearance of the Kryptonian – Lena could never really get used to that, as if it was too much to believe a Super would work with a Luthor if it's for the greater good – and the party chatter had become livelier than ever.

Lena met Supergirl's charming smile with her own playful smirk. "Supergirl, it's nice of you to join us."

"You know why I'm here Lena." Supergirl replied. "I'll circle around the perimeter and get back as soon as I see any sign of danger. I've got a few friends nearby ready to help too." she added before flying off into the sky.

The crowd gasped again, seeing Supergirl fly up close never gets tiring. The ability to literally reach up to the skies, hold the stars in the palm of your hands… the limitless possibilities.

And yes, Lena hated flying.

But oh how she dreamed of feeling the liberty and freedom it must give Supergirl.

The rush to defy gravity.

"Was that Supergirl?" Lena then heard Kara ask, appearing with a genuine smile on her face. She had her hair up like last time, wearing a pink dress. It was simple but elegant, enough to make Kara stand out really.

How people don't see what Lena can is a mystery to her.

The night was spent mingling with the rest of the guests, Lena catching sight of Kara talking to her friend Mike – was it Mike? Lena wasn't really paying attention when he introduced himself – for the most part. She looked like she was an older sister lecturing her younger brother whenever she was not looking around for what Lena could only guess as potential signs of trouble.

Lena herself was on a look out. In case alien technology made any special appearance for the night, she had a similar blackbody device ready hidden all over L-Corp plaza.

She tried to get a message to Kate too although she seemed to be too preoccupied by her own vigilante life at the moment to even send a reasonable reply back. She did find three small hockey disc-like items on her desk just before the start of the gala. They were lined with lead, having tiny holes at the side, a note attached to it.

_Use if you see a green mist. –K_

So maybe that was all the help she was going to get.

But Supergirl did say she had friends helping, so here's to hoping they were up to the challenge.

Lena had a few 'traps' set-up here and there too. A little of her own inventions to help stop ordinary weapons that can cause harm to any of her guests, if only to help Supergirl with the saving.

And they soon proved to be quite handy.

The mercenaries hired by Cadmus showed up armed to the teeth with – thank God – ordinary human weapons. Chaos ensued soon after, the security detail Lena hired for the event were quick to their feet with guiding the guests to safety.

Kara disappeared with them, as expected, and Supergirl showed up not soon after. Lena was keeping a safe distance not wanting to run and leave Supergirl. She was standing just near the L-Corp sign beside one of the pillars that held the open area of the second floor balcony, and in case the device she got from Kate proved useful, she's been hiding them in her hand purse ready to use whenever.

Supergirl managed to disarm a few of the mercenaries trying to chase after the guests who were still trying to get away from the center of action. From not too far away, Lena could hear sirens and gun shots. It wasn't that hard to suspect that the whole perimeter was surrounded.

A rain of bullets were soon targeted towards one of Lena's guests, the deputy mayor and his security detail, when a young man in a full red suit and blue cape showed up and shielded him. He had no shield but he was just as bulletproof as Supergirl and Superman himself.

Supergirl gave him a nod. From right behind a cartridge of green bullets was being loaded into an assault rifle were being fired by the leader of the group.

"Supergirl, watch out!" Lena yelled not exactly sure what to do in that situation, the newcomer in red still busy with some of the other mercenaries.

Luckily, Guardian was there, jumping off his motorcycle in time, the green bullets lodging onto his shield, protecting Supergirl who was taken by surprise by the existence of kryptonite ammunitions. Guardian stood still himself for a moment, keeping his shield up as Deathstroke fired a few more shots before pulling a knife with his other hand. He halted firing and rushed towards Guardian who was ready to try and block him.

The neophyte hero in red and blue, on the other hand, was busy dealing with Lena's oncoming attackers, crashing into them through one of the glass-panned halls of the first floor of L-Corp, trying his best to efficiently wipe them out.

Supergirl let Guardian handle Deathstroke for a moment, sending one of the remaining mercenaries flying to a few feet away before he got to Lena. "You should have gone to safety." Supergirl then said in a serious tone.

"I could be helpful here." Lena replied.

"Well do you have any plans to stop _that_ guy, because I have none at the moment." Supergirl then retorted just as Deathstroke sent Guardian flying only to crash land into his motorcycle, the mercenary beating him with just the use of one hand.

"Just the two of us left." they then heard Deathstroke say as he turned his attention to them. Supergirl stepped in front of Lena, shielding her away from the soldier for hire. "I'm not going to let you near her." she heard Supergirl say protectively.

" _Let_? Girl you still have a lot to learn." Deathstroke replied with a scoff. He wasted no time in throwing a grenade at them before he started shooting at them with his assault rifle.

Supergirl tried to reach Lena in an attempt to fly to safety but crash landed as soon as the green mist from the grenade was released into the air. Instead, the CEO pulled her closer and rushed towards one of the pillars. Lena pulled a slick black stick from her purse, about the size of a flash drive, and pushed the button on it. Something akin to a force field formed, coming from small black devices attached to the top and bottom of the pillars surrounding them, although not fully. There was about an inch of a gap just above the floor and below the ceiling above them provided by the second floor balcony that couldn't be covered due to the spatial limitations of the devices. Supergirl looked at her impressed despite coughing and writhing in pain next to her and Lena could almost feel the pride.

Almost.

The field stopped the bullets but not the mist. Lena then pulled out the black hockey devices and pressed the circle beneath it sliding them out of the slit at the bottom just as Deathstroke threw two more grenades.

The disks soon sucked the green mist, acting as an air purifier. This time Supergirl looked in awe at Lena.

Awe and a hint of curiosity. The black box for the field was justifiable, it can stop all kinds of ammunitions, kryptonite or not.

But the disks, they were designed for the very purpose of the kryptonite mist.

Lena could almost make out the hanging question Supergirl was very much tempted to ask, the Kryptonian slowly regaining her strength, when they heard Deathstroke getting ready to fire a new round of shots. She was saved of giving an explanation, however, when one of the black boxes was shot down, the force field starting to fall.

Supergirl stood up and took a deep breath. The situation seeming dire.

Sirens and gunfire were still being heard around them.

Some few crashing sounds from inside the building – irreparable damages that Lena would happily deal with granted they survive this encounter.

"Ms. Luthor, I'm going to do what I can to stop him, if I don't make it – " Supergirl started to say but was cut short by Lena.

"Don't say that, you're going to make it." Lena then replied with a ferocity that she didn't think existed, gripping the Kryptonian by the arms. Real fear was taking its hold of her with something she has never had to grapple before.

The possibility of losing something she's never had.

Right then and there she wished she could have told her everything, but time was against them.

Supergirl looked like she was about to say something, meeting Lena's desperation with a melancholic smile when they heard a loud _clang_ and Deathstroke cursing.

"Haven't you had enough?" he asked all smug. "I thought I've dealt with you already."

Both Lena and Supergirl stepped out from the pillar they were using to hide to find the mercenary looking up. Supergirl took a tentative step forward, her eyes trained on Deathstroke when she saw a flash of black and red drop from above, a figure slowly standing up, black cape and cowl very telling.

"Sorry I'm late." Batwoman said, keeping her back to them.

Lena chuckled at the comment. "I think you might just be on time." she replied, already imaging the slight smirk forming on Kate's mouth. Lena was already feeling a little bit better, Supergirl's words of what seemed to be farewell had worried her a lot.

She's felt great loss before, but never to that moment when she realized that it might very well be the end.

Of Supergirl at least.

But Lena allowed herself a moment to breathe, believe that they can stop the killer in front of them.

She wasn't alone to aid Supergirl anymore.

Kate had pulled through.

* * *

For a minute there, Kara thought she was about to meet defeat. Deathstroke was not just strong and skillful, he was also smart, using her weaknesses in all ways possible.

But things seem to have taken a turn.

She was currently helping one of Gotham's own vigilantes, Batwoman. Or was she helping her? Kara wasn't really sure.

Batwoman was skillful, meeting Deathstroke's blows and landing one of her own every now and then. Kara couldn't help but admire her fighting skills. She was precise in her movements, Batwoman being very disciplined and tactical with no energy wasted all while Kara fought with her usual rudimentary fighting skills. She did appreciate the training she was getting every now and then from the DEO, but she knew she had ways to go. It's not like she's Alex who's dedicated time as a DEO agent to train, she had a balancing act going on as Supergirl and Kara Danvers after all.   
  
And true, like her cousin, she had all the powers. But even her cousin couldn't help admire the strength and skill, the discipline and dedication that the Dark Knight himself had. They were but mere mortals who can hold their own against gods and goddesses, aliens, and metahumans.

If anything, it had made Kara even more driven in beating Deathstroke, landing a few blows on him herself. Still, it wasn't enough. Deathstroke still managed to send both her and Batwoman crashing on the ground, side by side. Kara was quick enough to counter though, managing to crush the assault rifle before being weakened by the bullets that came spilling out.

"Supergirl." Batwoman whispered as she was trying to pull herself up. "I know you're holding back. Listen, Slade's gear is made of a Kevlar and promethium mesh, resistant to pretty much anything."

Kara nodded, processing the information. The effects of the kryptonite bullets still holding as they slowly roll away. "Help me get his cowl off." Batwoman then adds just as Deathstroke comes rushing at them with the sword. Batwoman takes this one, blocking the blade with the spikes on her gauntlets. Kara couldn't help but notice Batwoman grind her teeth, as if she were in pain, as Slade applied more force on the blade.

Supergirl mustered all of her strength to push through the ebbing pain the green kryptonite brought on her and fired her heat vision first on Deathstroke's arms, making him drop the sword, and then at him, forcing him to take a misstep, enough for Batwoman to knock him down.

She wasn't going to let her weakness beat her. She was going to power through.

Deathstroke was quick to retaliate and they were once again drawn into an exchange of blows, Batwoman maneuvering her body to quickly counter an attack she received, Supergirl slowly easing back on her restraints.

Deathstroke managed to get some distance away from them, Batwoman sending batarangs towards his directions, the ones that exploded midair. They set off near Deathstroke's cowl, causing a temporary state of disorientation. Supergirl saw her chance, speeding towards him with a powerful punch the mercenary still managed to block on the last minute. Not to be dettered, Supergirl took this opportunity to land a strong kick on his head, enough to send his cowl flying, before he countered with a powerful punch, sending her crashing on the floor for the umpteenth time.

"You okay, Supergirl?" Batwoman asked, quickly rushing to her side and offering a hand to help her stand. Kara nodded and turned her attention to Deathstroke who was recovering from her attack.

Finally she meets Slade Wilson face to face.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." he then said with a smirk.

Before being hit with an Escrima stick at the back of his head, the weapon unleashing an electrical charge that knocked him out.

"Sorry about that, he was supposed to be my mess to clean up." Kara heard from up above the second floor open balconies. There, hunched on the railings was a young man in black, a blue bird symbol on his chest, grinning sheepishly at them while waiving another Escrima stick to say hello.

Nightwing – at least that's what he called himself from what Kara has heard. It was just like the name of one of Krypton's own minor entities, something Kara learned as part of the old legends of ancient Krypton back when she was little. Superman said that the current Nightwing took inspiration from Krypton's own, taking that name along with the mantle. Kara couldn't help but smile, Rao was on her side.

"I- We had him." Batwoman then replied.

"Yeah, but technically he's my pain in the butt." Nightwing replied, just before they could start hearing the falling footsteps of the ever late back up. "I think that's our cue." he then added.

Batwoman chuckled, tossing the fallen Escrima stick near Deathstroke back to him. Nightwing caught it with ease while Batwoman slapped some reinforced cuffs on Slade Wilson's wrists. "See you soon Supergirl." she then said before firing a grappling gun that launched her up to the second floor balcony.

The two vigilantes were gone after that.

DEO agents soon rushed to the scene of the crime followed by the police, Alex and Maggie leading the charge. Mon-El was making his way from the wreckage of his own battles inside L-Corp, Kara shaking her head at him – it wasn't time to reveal his presence just yet.

Mon-El made a speedy exit while Kara turned her attention to Guardian who was still knocked out. Alex directed aid towards his direction as she rushed with Maggie towards her and Lena's general direction. Maggie stopped a few feet away to pick up one of the batarangs left on the ground before looking up to the night sky and Kara couldn't help but wonder if she had an idea of what just happened and who came to help them.

But that was a question for another time.

Alex started freaking out by the amount of kryptonite – handled with her typical DEO agent manner of barking orders of getting them all cleaned up – and Kara knew her role in this was over. She turned around, finding Lena Luthor leaning against the walls by the pillar they had hidden behind earlier.

"I owe you my life."

"I owe you mine as well, Supergirl. I guess we can call it even." she replied with a light smile. How she still remained calm, Kara doesn't know, but it is definitely something she couldn't help admire from Lena.

"I know the authorities would want to question you but given you almost died tonight for staying behind at my expense, I think I can convince them to let you go." Supergirl then said.

But Lena shook her head, "I'll stay as long as it takes. You, on the other hand, deserve your rest." she replied and Kara nodded in reply.

A police investigator made his way towards Lena asking to speak with her for a moment and Kara took that as her cue. She made her way towards Alex and explained she was heading back to the DEO to rest, use the sunbed and regain her strength a little.

She was tired.

Alex agreed, promising to check in on her later.

Kara sighed, more out of relief than anything else. She turned for one last lingering glance at Lena, the CEO turning briefly to return her gaze, acknowledging her with a light smile as the investigator proceeded with his questions.

Supergirl returned the smile and took off to the skies. It's been a long night.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Lena asked, still shaken form tonight's events, marching into her mother's apartment. She was at her door, seeking for answers, just as soon as Supergirl and the rest of the authorities had left the plaza.

She took the risk of going out alone to her mother's place. Lena knew the threat to her life was gone. At least for now.

Lillian Luthor was happily poised, sitting on her couch, reading something from her tablet. "You know, you're quite the actress dear, except I don't really know who the performance was intended for." she said, without even looking up from whatever she was reading.

"You sent an actual to God killer after _me_." Lena replied, trying her best to keep her composure. If Kate hadn't shown up with that other masked vigilante in tow, if anyone of them made one false move – Supergirl, Batwoman, the acrobat, the other two new vigilantes, Lena herself – Supergirl, she could have…

No, Lena didn't want to even think about it. She wasn't going to let herself think about it.

"I don't even know why I'm even surprised. I offer you an olive branch, you sent an assassin after me, it's to be expected really." she settled on saying after taking a deep breath and regaining a bit of calm.

"The target was the mayor. It was your brilliant idea to have L-Corp be involved in all of this and I don't exactly control _that_ mercenary. Cadmus hired him, not me personally. If anything, I suppose your plans worked. You helped Supergirl stop another menace." Lillian Luthor replied coolly.

Lena scoffed. "And I should just be thankful I'm still alive then? What with Lex already trying to kill me, it should just be fine with me that my mother would too."

Lillian Luthor set her tablet aside and finally turned to face Lena, standing a few away from her. "You know as well as I do that Lex didn't want you dead. If he did, you would be."

There it was again, it was almost the same thing Kate had said.

"Then what is the purpose of all this exactly?" she asked rather impatiently.

"Come on dear, you're smart. You know as well as I do that perception is everything." her mother replied with the closest thing to a look of pride in her eyes for Lena. "It's what makes good storytellers, Lena. Knowing how to frame a story. Lex was always good at that. Your father too. I suppose that's something that also makes a Luthor and you're proving to be quite good at it."

Lena decided to hold her tongue with that comment. She was testing her.

The irony of it is that she knew, her mother didn't trust her.

The _other_ side she was trying to help didn't either.

She was sick of being regarded as the wild card. But she had too. She barred her teeth and tried to smile as naturally as possible, swallowing the great disdain she was feeling for the woman in front of her. "I don't know what you mean, mom." she settled with as an answer.

Oh, but she did.

Lex wanted to make it seem like they were enemies. It had two purposes really. If she resists him and decides to go against him, then she really will die. If she doesn't, then when the time comes, her name would be cleared of anything Lex-related, the world thinking they're enemies. Someone would be free to do what Lex wanted, meeting his standard in every way. Someone can take over until he's free to do so.

It's what Lena herself proposed to her mother after their major argument a few nights before.

But tonight – and Lena hated it – felt like she was the bait. For what purpose, she wasn't sure.

Lillian Luthor's smile grew bigger, unsettling Lena only by a little bit. "I'm not the only doctor in charge of Cadmus, dear. Strangely enough, Lex only trusts one man to carry a particular project, despite constantly butting heads with him, and he doesn't trust you. Well, maybe that's changed, I don't know. You knew about that Deathstroke, I told you days before. You still went ahead with your plans, and in the end you drew Supergirl _and company_ out to face him. Consider this a test."

"A test for who?" Lena asked seething. Truth was, she knew she was being played, she knew she was falling into a trap when her mother told her but she still played along.

But Lena knew she had to take the risk, played straight to their cards to show them that _her_ interests were _theirs_. She needed to. The objective remained the same. Take down Cadmus.

She was only holding out to the hope of an eleventh hour miracle that Supergirl and her friends would pull through – they always seem to. Granted she also had a few plans set aside for back-up if things grew horribly wrong, including sending a dozen SOS messages to Kate that was left without a reply.

"Supergirl." Lillian replied with a knowing smile.

And Lena didn't quite like the hidden meaning behind that simple reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied, the chapters are still really, really long (I think it might actually be getting longer by the chapter… we shall see). It's not really that much of a bad thing other than the longer waits between uploads, but oh well. Giving it my all for this fic, I have too many feels for Sanvers and Supercorp :P
> 
> Up Next: Some sleuthing from the Danvers sisters, an update on the kryptonite caches and Cadmus labs, a guests appearance from Supes, and important meetings galore


	10. Socratic Sleuthing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait (I swear, the words keep getting away from me and the chapters turn out longer than planned… I'm gonna try not go overboard with the length next time…), here is chapter 10 featuring Kara using her super-hearing for some fun eavesdrop- I mean 'sleuthing', Alex and Kate's more proper introduction (sort of?), a work-related Superman visit, Kara being oblivious at some obvious things, and a very important meeting for Lena.

Kara Danvers was a pocket full of sunshine. In the mornings, she would have the biggest and brightest of smiles as she made her way to Noonan's for her usual coffee order, and Cat Grant's too when she was still her assistant. She would greet each and every person on the street with her infectious positive attitude and warmth.

Except that morning. Kara was most definitely the not pocket full of sunshine that she was. People who had the chance of getting to know Kara would say that she was girl who doesn't really do mad, granted there was the whole thing with red kryptonite, but that was red kryptonite. Even if she was angry, she never showed it. She smiled, and nodded, and made things as bearable as possible because she was the kind of girl who put others first. Anyone who had the chance of running into her that morning, however, would say otherwise.

The night before was a handful, with the event at L-Corp being attacked by a group of mercenaries led by Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke the Terminator, and being exposed to handful of green kryptonite in various shapes, sizes, and form. Sure, at the end of the day, she had prevailed. She managed to save Lena's life, and made sure everyone else was okay.

But only after getting a helpful hand from Batwoman and Nightwing, Gotham's and Bludhaven's own nighttime protectors.

She was very much quite on edge even after the fight. She had the chance to take a rest in the sunbed to get re-energized before heading over for debriefing only to find out that they were having a little bit of their own medical emergency in the medic bay. Guardian had sustained some serious, but thankfully not fatal, injuries and everyone was working hard to make sure that his condition doesn't worsen.

Kara, concerned about the neophyte vigilante, rushed to get a look at how he was doing. She wanted to help – there had to be a way she could help, she was Supergirl after all, x-ray vision and everything – only to get the surprise of her life.

"James!" she had exclaimed rushing into the room after seeing the one and only James Olsen on the hospital bed.

"Relax, Kara, we got him. He's going to be okay." Alex had told her as her sister tried her best to keep a hold of Kara.

Kara was already feeling tired, she had just faced her mortality earlier and the idea that she might actually fail at saving Lena. Truth be told, she didn't know which thought had scared her the most at the moment. But now, well now one of her friends was badly hurt too. It was James. It was him all along.

He was the guy who recklessly placed himself in the middle of danger to save Supergirl from the super soldier they had to face. He dealt with the heavy blows, the bruises, and the scars to help her, to do his part in saving people's lives. How could she have not seen it? James had been acting weird since the thing with Parasyte. He was getting hurt, despite trying to brush it off as getting into some accident at home or pulling a muscle while trying a new workout routine.

Those were the most ridiculous lies she's ever heard and yet she believed them.

She believed them because it was James.

And that night James was all black and blue and red and Kara couldn't do much about anything. The tired feelings she had earlier that night, the fear, it all turned to guilt because she felt like she failed James as a friend. Because she felt responsible for making James feel like he wasn't much of a hero even without the mask on, or for that matter she didn't remind him that he was her hero in all the times she had turned for him for help. She felt worried because James could have died too.

But then Kara slowly felt anger. At first because she found out over the weekend that Winn and James were in cahoots with all of this. Because she found out that Alex knew. And Kara wouldn't have been super mad about anything if she had been brought into the loop. She understood it wasn't her fault, that she shouldn't feel guilty and that it wasn't her responsibility. She even understood why James did, where he was coming from and she admired his courage even more than anything, finally standing up, taking on a mantle like it was his calling. That much she respected.

But she was incredibly mad that he didn't say anything to her, because she could have still helped. She didn't appreciate the secrecy, at all. And at the very least, they could have brought James fully into the fold and trained him a little.

More than that, Alex _knew_! Granted it was James' secret, James and Winn's, but she should have urged them to tell her at the very least. James could have been killed with his little adventures as a vigilante.

And now James was still out of commission. No serious, life-threatening injuries but he's body was all kinds of sore, he still had to get some stitches, he still had a dislocated shoulder, and he still had a hairline fracture on his leg.

Not to mention Kara now had to cover up for James for not coming into work. True, he already let Cat know he had gotten into an accident during the event at L-Corp but James was worried that Cat might put things together and figure out he was Guardian. Whether or not Kara was still mad at him, she definitely didn't want him to be exposed.

Thankfully Cat didn't attend the event. "I'm only back until things settle back down. I realized a fast and abrupt transition may not be ideal. So until Mr. Olsen can get his act together and be my CEO full time, until he's fully adjusted, I'll stick around." Cat had explained the other day and she most definitely meant every word of it. She wasn't working so late anymore, neither was she in the office during the weekends. By Friday night she would be gone with Carter on some weekend getaway, slowly adjusting with her new schedule herself and spending time with the people that matter the most to her. For Cat Grant, it was time to fully enjoy the fruits of her labor.

All weekend long Kara managed to avoid Alex's calls, Winn's messages, and spoke only very minimally to James who she just couldn't ignore because he _was_ the one technically on bed rest. That didn't mean she couldn't be a little cold with him though.

And as much as Kara had wanted to check on Lena herself, make sure she's okay – she did go through one hell of an ordeal with Supergirl the night of the event – she ended up settling with exchanging messages with Lena.

Because really, all Kara had done the last few days was rant, to J'onn – which she would admit was a little awkward – and to Mon-El. Heck, she's been ranting even to M'gann, who had no choice with the matter since she was a literal captive audience at the moment. The last thing she wanted to do was rant vaguely about James' and Winn's secret to Lena Luthor for lots of reasons. One, she didn't want to burden her with her friends' insane ideas. Two, Lena might actually add things up, especially if she ends up slipping on anything.

And having slip ups would be _very_ easy when Lena was around. It was like her very presence was enough of a truth serum for Kara. She just couldn't help herself but tell Lena _things._

Trivial things, personal things, _everything_.

And thankfully she hasn't exactly told Lena _everything_.

Although there was a part of Kara that _really_ wanted to. The same part that hated herself for lying and keeping secrets from Lena. True, she doesn't owe Lena an explanation to anything, they've only been friends for a few months.

But she _hated_ that there were parts about herself she couldn't be honest about to Lena. Maybe it's because she sees the good in her, because for whatever reason, Kara found it so easy to trust her.

Once she reached her office, Kara slumped down onto her chair and rested her head on her desk. She really just needed a moment to rest, run away and take a break from her life if possible. Sort herself through with all the thoughts that have been running through her head the past few days.

But that's not possible. She was Kara Zor-El after all, and that meant she had to balance being Kara Danvers and Supergirl both during the day and during the night.

And just as she thought she possibly had at least five minutes of peace, she could hear Cat Grant's voice calling out everyone she thought to be important enough into her office for a meeting.

Thus ends her barely two minutes of tranquility. Duty calls for Kara Danvers, fledgling reporter.

Cat was on fire. Just because she chose not to attend the fundraiser doesn't mean she wasn't well aware of what was going on. Form the main news to the tiniest details of the latest gossips regarding the latest attack at National City, Cat Grant didn't miss a beat.

And it didn't really matter if Kara was in a bad mood, seeing Cat Grant be, well, nothing less but Cat Grant, always left her in awe, making her want to be just as fired up and passionate as her boss.

"If you attend every single event that happens in a year, people will get bored of you. You need to let them miss you. Have them be excited to see you." Cat explained when Snapper cut her off, claiming he's already got the stories set out and in order after the whole 'Deathstroke Incident' at National City since Cat wasn't around. "But less on why I didn't go and more on the actual news." she went on as she assigned news stories and headlines.

And she most definitely did not miss a single beat.

An article was going to be written on the politics side of the attack, possible controversies on the alien registration act, and an opinion piece to voice out the concerns of both sides. Yet another one was assigned to cover what the Hamilton's thought about the rising attacks in National City, if the expansion of their base of operations have anything to do with a potential new market to fight alien tech and weaponry. Another piece was set on how L-Corp was truly continuing it's push of moving on to their own direction even with the constant attacks they had to endure at their main office, and of course what they plan on doing as they move forward. Kara was a little surprised she was neither assigned to the Hamilton nor the Luthor piece, she thought Cat would have wanted an interview from either Kate or Lena and what they have to say about it.

But then Cat Grant moved on from serious topics to more of the entertainment side of the news.

There was going to be a piece on the latest fashion trends at the fundraiser, and a breakdown of the night before all the crazy happened. An article was also being written about a young inventor who was currently designing an app that would alert citizens about possible attacks – alien or non-alien – in a timely manner.

And of course, there was going to be a piece about the latest romantic entanglements of the guests. "And that's going to be all yours Kiera."

"Huh?" Kara asked, confused after being caught off guard about the assignment.

"Here I thought you'd have insider info. The latest gossip spreading in the interwebs, or whatever you crazy kids call it nowadays, is that Lena Luthor spent most of the weekend at the Kane Residence Tower. L-Corp's own CEO spending the aftermaths of yet another attack on her life at the place where the one and only Kate Kane lives, especially when Kane herself was supposedly in Gotham, sounds intriguing, don't you think?"

"I… well, I mean, they _are_ friends." Kara managed to say, stumbling over her words. The picture Cat Grant had just unintentionally painted for her giving her a whiplash.

Cat sighed before dismissing everyone else to leave and asking _Kara_ – yes, she got her name right that time – to stay behind for 'a little chat'.

Kara stood still for a moment. A part of her, the part she rarely even realized existed, was boiling over. Her fingers had been fidgeting as she unconsciously started clicking the end of her ballpoint pen over and over.

Lena went to Kate's because she had nowhere else to go. She was alone – because Kara just had to be wrapped up in the whole Guardian business with James and Winn – and maybe Kate was back. Maybe Lena didn't want to be so alone and helpless and wanted the company of a friend. That's normal. Who cares about the insinuations surrounding the gossip? Lena and Kate had known each other for a long time, Kate was probably just comforting her for once.

That was it.

_Right?_

And Kara shouldn't feel what she feeling just because of that. That gnawing feeling inside of her, chewing her inside out just like when Lucy would spend time with James when they were still together, James being busy all the time, rarely ever getting a chance to even grab a cup of coffee with Kara.

But it wasn't _that_ , no, that would be ridiculous.

Besides, it wasn't _exactly_ like that. Kara wasn't feeling jealous at all. If she was, it was because she was just _extremely_ fond of Lena and maybe, well, maybe she wanted to be the one who made her happy, cheered her up and kept her company after everything that had happened.

No, it wasn't like that at all. Nothing like the whole thing with James. Nope.

She was feeling something so much worse than that and Kara just didn't want to admit it. The unsettling feeling settling in like she had unexpectedly crashed into endless windows and skyscrapers.

"Kiera, please stop doing that before it drives me crazy." Cat said, stepping behind her desk and settling down on her chair. Kara did as she was told, nervous energy still pulsing through her as she kept fidgeting, adjusting her glasses or smoothening the creases on her button down shirt. Cat sighed before she gave Kara a hopeless look. "I'm not demoting you to a gossip column or anything, Kiera, that's not my intention for the article." she heard Cat continue to say, and almost immediately Kara snapped her head up and looked at Cat with a curious look.

"Heiress of a weapons company, brilliant engineer and CEO of a corporation that had been notoriously previously known for its world dominating and alien hating agenda…" Cat went on as she waved her hands in front of Kara pointing to nothing but air as if to demonstrate the main points of her arguments.

"Lena's not going to pursue anything Lex did." Kara instantly and adamantly said in defense of her _friend_. This despite the fact that she knew Lena had an alien detection device prototype somewhere, possibly a working one again. However, Lena doesn't seem to be too keen on it at the moment and Kara doesn't know if it's because she's also starting to see things her way or she just has to deal with too many death threats lately to even care. Which really, all of it is just sending all sorts of mixed signals in her head.

"I'm not saying she is, I'm saying that there might be a potential contract between the two companies coming in the distant future along the lines of that recent military contract Kate Kane's family acquired. Details may be hush, hush and all. But if there is, I'd like Catco to have the story first. We already beat _The Planet_ with our interview with Ms. Kane, we might as well keep the ball rolling." Cat explained. "You're a reporter Kiera, I already told you that, and while your writing needs some work every now and then – everyone has room for improvement – you have all the makings of a great one."

"Thanks Ms. Grant." Kara replied uncertainly. "So, would you like me to interview Lena and Kate on their plans? Or the rumors?" she asked, barely able to hide the distaste in her voice when she pertained to the word 'rumors' because she couldn't quite bring herself to say 'potential blossoming romance' as some of the tabloids undoubtedly already have plastered on their front pages.

Really, Kara just doesn't understand why she felt so blindsided by the whole assignment. She's still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Cadmus worked with people like Deathstroke – for that matter that someone like Deathstroke exists – and the idea that her supposed best friends kept an idiotic secret from her. Now she had to grapple with the fact that she hated the idea of Lena being with Kate Kane in some way, shape, or form for no apparent reason.

Sometimes Kara just needs a day off.

But today wasn't that day.

"We can start with the relationship. They have a history together as friends." Cat replied, a look of concern and understanding settling on her face as she went on, the sound of her voice grounding her to reality, reminding Kara that she had an actual job to do. "I don't think I'd need to hold your hand through this Kiera. It's quite simple to ask what two socialites might do on a night out, how things may have changed now that Lena is a CEO, and say… how Kate is adjusting to whatever role she is taking with her own family's expansion in the city."

Kara nodded wordlessly absorbing what Cat had said. _Of course, that's what Cat meant. What on earth are you thinking Kara? Get your head on_ straight _, Danvers,_ she chastised herself.

"Right. I'll get right to it then, Ms. Grant." Kara replied with a nod before turning to leave.

Only to be called back by Cat Grant. "Oh _Kara_ , one more thing." she had said, two for two on getting her name right that morning.

"Yes, Ms. Grant?" Kara asked, curious as to what else Cat might want to say.

Cat Grant takes a minute or two, pausing for a moment as if she was studying Kara's every movement.

It was like when she kept insisting she was Supergirl in the past. A part of Kara knows that despite J'onn's help, Cat Grant most definitely did not buy that she was not in fact Supergirl and quite possibly was still trying to figure out the trick she used to pull it off, that's why she wasn't back on trying to get her to confess.

That or she's already figured it out and Cat was just being uncharacteristically nice about it, letting things slip and playing along.

Kara wasn't sure, she didn't know which scenario could be worse either.

Cat took a deep breath. " _Kara_ , I don't know what it is that's going on inside that head of yours, or for that matter what's going on with your _heart –_ " she started to say before she saw Kara's brows furrow " – yes I said heart, you heard me right – but you need to take some time and figure it out. You can't move on through life on a standstill, blissfully ignoring what's already right in front of you. Something is happening with you, something's not the same, and it has been affecting you one way or another. Do you understand me?"

"I-I think so?" Kara replied.

Cat sighed. "Don't let anyone play you for a fool Kiera, and don't do the same to anyone. You've always had good instincts, so whatever it is – and make no mistake, I can see that your _friendship,_ or whatever it is that's between you and Lena, is at the center of this – take the time to figure it out. Then decide how to move forward from there. It doesn't always work, but sometimes not listening to your head over your heart is the answer."

Kara stood silent for a minute, tentatively biting her lip and nodding along as she let Cat Grant's words sink in before thanking her and leaving.

Somehow Cat's words haunted here all the way to L-Corp. Sure, Lena had given instruction to let her through anytime she was there for a visit or for an interview but Kara still decided to call Jess – she tried calling Lena but she wasn't picking up – on the way to give her a head's up. She also wanted to make sure she wasn't exactly disrupting a meeting and that Lena had available time.

Which, she knew, was strange behavior on her part because Kara was sure she's waltzed into Lena's office more times than she can remember without even checking in if she's busy, but in her defense she's always done a flyby of her office before that so she already knew the answer.

Today, however, Kara wasn't in a rush to get anywhere.

 _Maybe Ms. Grant had a point about the 'standstill' comment,_ she thought to herself.

"She always has time for you, Ms. Danvers. She's currently in a meeting with her board but she should be done in a couple of minutes." Jess replied through the phone sounding a little bit exasperated. "I'll let her know you're on the way as soon as she's out of the boardroom."

When Kara finally got to L-Corp, she went straight up to Lena's office and found the CEO setting aside a finished plate with a glass of wine next to it. Kara didn't fully realize how long the walk was between Catco and L-Corp, and with her mind on a whole lot of different matters at hand, she really did let time slip away.

Lena looked surprised when she arrived but nevertheless welcomed her with her usual warm smile, "So what can I do for you today, Kara?" she asked.

Kara was pretty much still a nervous wreck the whole interview, not really sure how to approach the topic. She started to reason to herself that she's still just shaken with all that had happened the past seventy-two hours or so, that's why she felt like her _feelings_ were somehow getting in the way of the assignment. It's because she's had a lot on her mind and adding new information was just hard to process at the moment.

That was all.

Really.

Nothing else.

On her way, she also convinced herself that she would tell Lena it was for a puff piece looking at how powerful women manage their own personal lives, different kinds of relationship included. It wasn't that far from the truth either. She followed through with that plan, explaining it to Lena all while the CEO simply gave her a curious look, stopping midway from writing something in her black ledger. Lena let Kara ramble on trying to explain what the piece was about, quite possibly deviating from what she was saying from time to time, until she saw Lena quirk a brow. It would seem that Kara was making an idiot of herself for no good reason when Lena was clearly seeing where the whole thing was leading too. "I don't suppose Cat Grant finally sent you to my office because she was interested in my dating life?" she asked with a scoff.

And Kara all but managed to nervously laugh as she gave her answer that instantly confirmed Lena's suspicions. Lena tipped her head to the side and looked away, mouthing 'of course' before sighing. Kara, for whatever reason, felt like she needed to reconfirm them with words, "I mean, yeah… uh, no? I'm not entirely sure either."

Lena gave Kara a tentative smile, setting aside her pen and closed the black leather-bound notebook. Kara could see that the usual warm, relaxed and carefree Lena that she had gotten used to slowly started to withdraw within herself. Lena did her best not to show it, but Kara could tell the sudden change from open to guarded persona. "What is this about, Kara?" she then found herself asking sounding just as confused as the bumbling reporter in front of her.

All because Kara couldn't ask the simple question on whether or not something was going on between her and Kate Kane. She didn't want to sound rude, and she knew it really wasn't her place to ask in the first place. Lena didn't owe her any explanation on what she does with her dating life. If she has a dating life…

… _I mean, she's Lena Luthor! She probably has suitors all lined up and, granted she keeps saying I'm her only friend but still…_ Kara's thoughts went rambling on just as she did.

 _Seriously, Kara Zor-El, what's wrong with you?!_ Kara thought, stopping herself short of actually shouting it at herself.

Somehow her curiosity on Lena's dating life and the thought that Lena might actually have one – like all normal humans would – was driving her insane.

Lena bit her lip as she tried to find the words to say – and for that matter, tried to figure out how to say things that Kara wouldn't misinterpret and understand – that she just doesn't really like talking about the topic at hand. She was still very much guarded and that scared Kara a little. She'd gotten used to the way Lena was around her, and the sudden change in dynamic was causing a shift deep inside her.

Kara felt special, in the way that Lena could be just Lena around her. In a way that she gets to see the CEO for all that she is. But the topic seemed to be a very touchy one for her and Kara wanted to ease the situation.

Before she could do anything however, Lena relaxed a little and spoke up. "Look Kara, I don't… being a Luthor or at least anything associated to Lex, doesn't really bring much in terms of relationships. You can write whatever you think is nice but the only relationship I have is with my job. And well, my father's dead, my brother's trying to kill me or at least tried multiple times in the past, my mother is… well that's complicated." Lena then answered, stopping herself short.

Her comment about Lillian Luthor picked Kara's interest a little, and a part of her wanted to follow up on that, but Cat Grant was also right.

She was distracted.

Besides, she didn't want to make things more complicated than things were going with the interview.

And she hasn't even broached on the topic of Kate Kane and if they might work on a project together.

"What about Kate?" Kara finally managed to ask, for once actually saying something that's more than just incoherent ramblings during their interview.

"What about her?" Lena asked, releasing a deep breath. She sounded rather exasperated on the topic.

"Um, well, you've known each other for a long time." Kara then replied, pointing the obvious.

Once again she was met by Lena quirking a brow at her direction. "I have to admit, you're the first reporter today – well, ever – who hasn't asked me _that_ question directly. We're friends Kara, I'm not dating Kate." Lena said with a sense of finality on her tone. "Not like it's the public's right to know either, I don't need to tell anyone who I date if I don't want to. Tabloids can spin stories as much as they want, the truth gets out anyways." she added, her tone changing a little and Kara could sense more easily the irritation Lena had been trying to hide all this time.

"Right." Kara then replied uncertain about how she should continue the interview. She had clearly hit a nerve, and if she could guess things right, she would assume that Lena was well aware about the rumors. Kate _was_ as much a philanderer as Bruce Wayne was, and while Kara has absolutely no idea what Lena's preferences are, well, she finds it hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would throw away any affection Lena Luthor might throw their way.

"But you are friends." Kara then picked up, finding a way to possibly ease the currently building tension between them. "I mean, Kate's known to party. Don't you go out too? I mean, I know you go out with me for lunch or when I drag you to watch a movie. I can't be the only one you spend time with when you're away from your desk at L-Corp." she went on, smiling shyly at Lena, hoping that the CEO would see the innocence in her question, hoping that she would understand that this was just an assignment and she just wanted to edify points that kept being muddled up in the news about her.

Lena couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle at what Kara said and Kara was slowly able to breathe again – she didn't even realize she had somewhat stopped – seeing that Lena was starting to relax again. "I see Kate from time to time and catch up with her too. Truthfully though, back when I still wasn't the CEO of a company, anytime I was with Kate was usually spent drinking our worries away or taking care of her because she doesn't want to stop throwing her life away. She's been good at not doing the latter lately, thankfully, but she's gotten into a bad habit of _disappearing_ on you, so it's been harder to see her." Lena replied before she sighed. "But really, Kara, how many times do I have to tell you before you believe me that _you_ are my only friend in this city. If not for you, I don't think I'll have much of a life other than work. If anything, I'm thankful I have you in my life Kara. It reminds me to stop and live a little, enjoy the simple things."

Kara couldn't help but smile nervously in response. She knew Lena gave her an honest answer and somehow, the complicated mess of thoughts that found itself all tangled up in her mind got all the more tangled up. Thoughts she's been trying to ignore kept trying to resurface when Lena met her eyes and she gave her a smile that was a little bashful for Lena Luthor. Still, the thought that outside of work, Kara was essentially it, the exception to Lena's mundane routine of boardroom meetings and conspiracy plots was something she took great happiness in.

The two of them eventually settled into a comfortable talk about what had happened during L-Corp's last event before Lena took a quick glance on her phone and excused herself, remembering an important meeting she was about to have.

Kara thanked Lena for being gracious with her time as always. She found herself taking a deep breath, leaning back on the smooth elevator walls.

A lot has happened since, well, ever since she's taken up the mantle of Supergirl really. Things weren't getting easier either, especially since Lena arrived and with the whole Cadmus thing. Kara's been waiting for things to settle down, but it seemed like that would be impossible.

And if she had to admit it, she kind of felt a little lost at the moment.

Kara found herself running into an alley before switching to her Supergirl outfit and taking to the skies. She wanted to clear her head a bit.

Except, as soon as she did she saw a blur of blue and red heading towards the direction of the DEO building.

Sometimes duty just never ends.

* * *

The DEO was on high alert ever since the Deathstroke attacks. While the masked mercenary was on his way to some maximum security prison somewhere, it left behind quite a trail of paper work for some of the agents to clean up, and quite a bit of a mess on Alex's own personal life.

Guardian was hurt, for one, and with his state immediately after the whole affair, the only logical thing to do was to take James to the DEO and treat him. It led to both J'onn and Kara finding out and while Kara was currently pissed and ignoring her and Winn for the most part – at a time when she really needed Kara to be there – she knew that her sister would come around.

But J'onn though. He was really pissed. Alex felt so ashamed of it, especially since she knew that J'onn could read minds and he did his absolute best not to pry in whatever it is that Alex was thinking of out of respect for her privacy. It felt like she totally just broke his trust in her.

"You shouldn't have kept something like this. It's one thing to go on side missions and cases with Detective Sawyer, it's another to let an _untrained_ civilian think himself to be a hero who can handle all of this."

"Look, I agree maybe it was the wrong approach but I can't stop James from doing what he feels is what he needs to do and what he thinks is right. He saved Kara tonight, other than those other vigilantes, who you don't seem to be having a problem with, and he's helped Kara on multiple occasions already."

"This is still not the right way to go." J'onn mumbled under his breath. He was angry, more on the keeping a rather important secret part, but on Alex's defense, he was keeping secrets of his own. So yeah, maybe the thought of that made her feel a little less guilty.

And in their current moods, both of them can make the same arguments about how they weren't their secrets to tell, but Alex knew not one of them would cave. They both have points and they made mistakes, J'onn was just being stubborn with his stance, especially since James could have very nearly died that night.

"Bet you if it was Kate Kane he wouldn't be this prissy."

"Yes, but Kate Kane attended West Point and she's got some DEO experience." Winn replied flatly. "Whatever they are, anyways. Ugh, I still can't believe I messed up. I was supposed to keep an eye on his back." Winn replied as he slumped down on his station.

Alex leaned back on his desk and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You did your best. James is alive. Kara is alive. That's what mattered." she replied. "Anyways, got any idea on what J'onn's waiting for? Superman's already here, why can't we begin talking about whatever mission or case we need to work on?"

But Winn simply replied with a shrug.

Superman arrived about half an hour ago, Supergirl close behind. He and J'onn had a brief but private talk before he joined his cousin on something Alex would call their own version of Kryptonian hi-jinks at the DEO. Kara introduced Clark to Mon-El, warming up instantly to the Daxamite thanks to the fact that he didn't know anything about the war between his home planet and Daxam. Then Kara showed Clark the last two of the super-powered animals they kept at the DEO. Despite being initially wary of them, Clark started warming up to the super-powered dog Kara named Krypto, claiming him as his own best buddy.

"Maybe I can actually take him back to Metropolis with me." he had said to Kara earlier.

"Hang on a second, no way. Krypto and Streaky are friends, they're _my_ friends."

"You can't keep them at the DEO, and did you name the orange cat Streaky?" Clark had asked amused, his mood lightening up a little compared to how it was when he arrived.

"He's got a lightning shaped streak on his fur!" Kara had then replied.

While the argument was rather ridiculous to hear between the two Kryptonians, it did put a temporary smile on Alex's face to see Kara relaxing a bit after the weekend they had. The two soon disappeared chasing after both Streaky and Krypto who tried to make a break for it.

And perhaps Alex would have even enjoyed the whole scene a little more if the threat of Cadmus didn't exist. Kryptonite caches of different kinds, mercenaries with weapons that could hurt Kara thrown in too. It was all too much for Alex at the moment.

That was why Superman was there in the first place. He returned from wherever it was that he meets with his little league of friends wanting to discuss important matters at hand, and if the look on his face when he brought up Cadmus to J'onn was any indication of how serious the threat was, then Alex was definitely preparing for the worst.

She's never really seen Superman as angry as he looked earlier.

Just as Alex was thinking about the seriousness of the situation, both Supergirl and Superman zoomed into their control center.

"Told you I'm faster, just accept it Kal." Kara said all smug.

"I will admit that if it wasn't for your quick thinking, we almost had two escaped super animals out in National City." Clark then replied.

"Well, you all seem to be enjoying yourselves." J'onn then said also entering the scene with a tablet in hand. The same one that Maggie had with her the night Cadmus took Kara. "We've got some updates, Mr. Schott, can you pull them up?" he commanded more than asked Winn as he handed over the tablet.

"Yes sir." Winn replied and went straight into it.

Clark once again adopted a stern look. The little happy bubble they had earlier of forgetting their problems had ended. Alex kept his eyes trained on the two Kryptonians, Kara was slightly nervous but she was trying her best not to show it, and Clark a bit impatient.

But then he perked up a little, turning his head around just in time to hear the hall filled with DEO agents behind them start to make the subtle noise of guns being pulled from their hoisters.

"I see I'm getting a warm welcome." Kate Kane had said, her hands up high in the middle of the hubbub, playful smirk on her face.

"I see you're actually using the front door this time." J'onn had commented, signaling the rest of the agents to put their guns down.

"Well, it is day time…" Kate replied, making her way towards them. She turned to face Alex and gave her a knowing a smug grin in passing before turning her attention to Superman. "Supes."

Superman chuckled. "I'd ask why you're dressed like that but I'm assuming it's complicated. It always is with you lot."

"It is." Kate replied truthfully. "The ending of my brief tenure as a DEO agent wasn't exactly all rainbows and unicorns. Besides, _someone_ already tried hacking my files for intel, glad to know J'onn had the most sensitive info redacted otherwise… well… I can't promise anything nice to the person responsible." Kate then replied coolly, eyeing Winn when she mentioned the hacking.

Winn stopped for a moment, feeling Kate's eyes on him before he slyly looked at Alex for any sign of acknowledgement of support or back up. Alex huffed and gave a slight nod just in case.

Alex gave a side glance to her sister after that, Kara all of a sudden started acting fidgety when J'onn introduced Kate to the rest of the team at the control center. Winn looked a little intimidated when Kate shook his hand.

Only really adding to her irritation more.

She knew Kate was helping them but still, she didn't have to be there with them. Alex just wasn't too keen on the two of them sharing space.

"Agent Danvers." Kate then said, reaching her hand out. Alex reluctantly met hers giving "Kane" as a terse reply before Kate turned to meet Supergirl.

Much to Alex's own surprise, Kara was losing her cool. Not in the same way as she did when she met the president, thank God, but she was still acting a little too funny around Kate for Alex's own comfort.

It would have been easy to get to the bottom of it if Kara would just forgive them already, as she inevitably will, and talk about whatever it was bothering her. At the end of the day, the two of them were sisters. They shared each other's problems, eased each other's burdens. They were each other's best friends.

"Got it." Winn then said, pulling the files up on screen. "Do the files really need to be heavily encrypted?" he then asked Kate.

"Well, considering you're security system's a little lax in terms of highly intellectual humans who can hack their way into anything, then yes." Kate then replied.

"We've got topnotch security." Alex quickly retorted before returning her attention to the screen.

Kate chuckled in response. "And yet I managed to break in with ease, not to mention Oracle managed to hack you."

Winn simply grumbled some nonsense in response that even Alex couldn't understand before J'onn cleared his throat. Even Alex understood the exasperated look on his face. They were all trying to act like children who don't get along well.

"So, what new information do we have?" J'onn asked.

Kate smiled. "With the help of my _associates_ , a lot." she replied before she broke down the information she managed to recover for the DEO and Alex couldn't help but wonder who she meant by 'associates'.

But that wasn't the time to ask questions, it was time to listen and digest information.

Information about their enemy.

Kate started with saying that they managed to crack ten more locations of the nineteen still active Cadmus labs. They have intel on the facility whereabouts and floor layouts, unfortunately they don't know much other than the fact that they may also be keeping large stashes of one or more types of kryptonite. One of the labs was at Central City at an old research facility for LexOil, a subsidiary of the once named LuthorCorp. There was another location just outside Coast City, once again it was a small Thorul Labs facility. The third on the list was an old factory at Bludhaven used for the production of parts used by LuthorCorp for their space-related business ventures. The fourth was in Star City, underneath the research labs of a current pharmaceuticals company under L-Corp. There was also one in both Gotham and Metropolis, both just outside the city limits. On the surface they were either warehouses or storage facilities but the maps that Winn pulled up revealed a series of labs and tunnels that ran beneath them. The other four where across the globe, one in Paris, another in London, the last two in Russia.

"Batman has a few people looking into the one in Metropolis already and Green Lantern said he'll take care of the one at Coast City." Kate then said.

Winn nudged Alex, mouthing "Green Lantern?" for clarification but Alex simply shook her head. She's heard about the hero at Coast City but very little information about him was currently available to the DEO. She knew they were interested in keeping an eye out for him though.

"I'm guessing Bludhaven is already taken care of?" Superman then asked and Kate nodded.

" _He's_ pulled in some of _his_ old teammates. Don't worry, I know someone else in that team we can trust. She's pretty awesome, trained her myself." Kate then said knowingly to which Alex tried hard not to respond to.

"I'm guessing we should get strike teams ready for Metropolis and Star City then." J'onn then replied. "Along with the international bases. Should we attack simultaneously?"

"I'm torn about that. If we do for all of them, it might tip Cadmus off." Kate then replied instinctively.

"Why would they be tipped off? And of what?" Alex then asked curios at the sudden change in Kate's demeanor. She was acting a little defensive, more _protective_ really.

And Alex really wanted to know.

After all, Cadmus still had their father, and if he was involved with this, with the intelligence gathering in any way, she would like to keep him safe.

And get him out as soon as possible.

Kate simply shrugged and remained tight-lipped. "We can plan and coordinate strikes accordingly." she replied, dismissing Alex's question.

"Any news on…" Superman started to ask, his voice dropping low.

And Kate shook her head before he could finish. "In terms of location, no. But I think there's something we need to talk about."

"In private?" J'onn asked in place of Sueprman.

"Preferably. I heard you guys had someone smuggling kryptonite to Cadmus once, better be safe." Kate then replied, dropping her voice low. J'onn and Superman exchanged looks and nodded.

J'onn dismissed the team after that, telling Alex they'll talk later to plan the strike teams as he disappeared with Superman and Kate Kane.

Alex simply eyed Kate, still holding onto a bit of her own suspicions. There was something she knew, Alex can tell, something the redhead either wasn't sure of herself or was purposefully avoiding to talk about.

But whatever it was, Alex promised to herself, she will uncover.

One way or another.

* * *

Kara was pretty much nibbling on the straw of the club soda she ordered. She was at the dive bar after work, the little meeting at the DEO took longer – technically with the wait to get started – than she thought it would which meant she had to stay later to get her work done.

Technically she got it done in like ten minutes since she got back, closing her office door and speeding away to make sure that they were all set in case trouble pops up somewhere. But still, normal human beings don't have super powers.

Which meant that normal humans needed to stay later and work longer hours when they had too many deadlines.

In the meantime, she spent her time pretending to work hard at actually working hard.

Well, sort of.

The news about Cadmus had Kara a bit anxious, wanting to close down all the labs they located as soon as possible. There was nothing else in this world that she would want more than anything.

But then right on cue thoughts of Lena started popping back up in her mind.

So, instead of letting her mind wonder again on things she would rather not deal with at the moment, Kara focused her attention back on the assignment Cat Grant had given her. She started digging up any information she could about Kate Kane and the latest contracts the Hamiltons had in case Cat was right and that L-Corp might eventually form a contract of their own with the arms company.

All leads Kara found, however, led nowhere. She could have gone to the source easily, Kate _was_ just in the DEO earlier, but then again she was Supergirl when they saw each other that day and she couldn't have started asking Kate any questions about Lena at that time.

Although she does suppose she could have asked her about whatever it was that had her cousin in edge.

Instead, Kara decided to track Kate down, again with no luck. Kate had pretty much disappeared after the DEO visit, which was why Kara found herself back at the office. She started making calls with the people working on current renovations at the old Lord Technologies building, anyone really, who had some form of contact with Kate. She didn't want to call Lena to ask her a favor of getting in contact with the CEO, not after their awkward moment in the middle of their interview.

Besides, Lena was probably dealing with a lot right now. She may make it look easy but Kara's not blind to see that she's got a lot on her plate and that she's working day in and day out just to get them all done.

So Kara might have decided to cheat a little, using her super-hearing to try and pick up and track down where Kate was.

Hence why Kara was in the dive bar.

Kate looked relaxed and well-adjusted despite being in an alien bar. Surprisingly some of the locals even know her, with one of them asking her "How's your friend Kori?"

"Technically she's the friend of a friend." Kate had corrected. "But last time I saw her she's doing well." she had replied with a smile.

Kara felt a little guilty about it. She never really eavesdroped unless it's needed and essential to the cause, but… well… she wanted to know a few things.

One was whether or not Kate's family does plan to work with L-Corp on some top secret project that could potentially spell trouble for aliens in the city, and the world, no matter where the intentions come from.

Two was that she may or may not be interested on asking Kate for an interview, maybe find out if she and Lena actually had a thing because for some reason that's what her mind kept circling back to, much to her great annoyance too.

Soon, a man – human, again – with dark hair and blue eyes entered the pub. He gave a passing glance at Kara, sporting a jovial grin on his face and nodding at her direction, before moving past the bar and heading to the booth where Kate was sitting.

Kara turned back quickly, focusing her sight on reading the labels for the taps, hoping Kate didn't notice her, all while she focused in on what they were talking about.

"Grayson." Kate said greeting him.

"Hey Kate, how are you? Still hurts?" the guy called Grayson asked.

"Aches a little. Lena was a great help over the weekend though. Somethings never change I guess, she still takes care of me when I'm sick." Kate replied and for whatever reason, some form of weight have been lifted on Kara's shoulders. "Thanks by the way."

"That's what friends are for. I _was_ supposed to help, just got a little held up."

"Do I need to know?" Kate asked.

"No." Grayson replied with a chuckle. "I'll be sticking around for a while though, Babs too. She's just helping Bruce with some things but she'll be heading over here soon. Bruce wants to have this fundraising Gala of sorts for the Wayne Foundation here at National City. Since he's all sorts of busy with his usual activities, I've been assigned as a surrogate for him."

Kate laughed in response. "Good to know. Although, are you really not here to just babysit me?"

This time it was Grayson who chuckled. "No. He worries about you but he trusts you too. Can't help it if he may seem a little overbearing and protective sometimes." he replied.

"Any news on the request I made from Tim?" Kate then asked, changing the topic.

"He's working on it. He's hoping he can finish up the project soon." he replied.

"What are you up to?" she then heard Alex say as she felt a light jab to her side. Kara's focus shifted from Kate and her friend and to her sister, looking up just as Alex saw Kate in her booth. "And what's she doing here? Who's her friend?"

"She apparently has an alien friend. Locals know her. I don't know the guy and I said I'm not talking to you. But what are you doing here?" Kara then replied before sort of regreting letting Alex get her attention already, what with her sister sporting her own patented puppy dog eyes towards Kara and all.

"Kara, I'm sorry. I know I made a mistake not telling you but I trusted Winn and James. I still do. James may not be trained like an agent but he's gotten in his fair share of scuffles in the past being  Superman's friend and all. It was their secret and I respected that. And I respect why you're mad too, but I just, I need my sister now more than ever and looks like you need to talk to someone too, especially with whatever that was earlier with the redheaded daughter of Gotham over there and whatever this is right now." Alex then said, waving her hands around Kara to drive home her last point.

"There is nothing going on here right now." Kara defended.

"Kara, I know when you're secretly eavesdropping. You make a face where your nose is all scrunched up and everything." Alex replied flatly. "Besides," she then continued with a sigh, "I have an upcoming date with Maggie and I really need your help."

Kara couldn't help but smile when she saw Alex's reaction, blushing a little, as she mentioned the date. With everything's that happened with her and the detective, Kara couldn't be happier for her sister.

Kara went from trying hard not to notice Alex to pulling her sister in for a big hug. "You know I'll be here for you Alex, whatever you need." Kara said. "And I guess I'm sorry too, for being stubborn about this, but the whole Guardian thing is not over."

"We'll definitely talk about it." Alex then said. "But tell me, what are _they_ talking about?" Alex then asked, pulling herself up on a bar stool and nodding towards the direction of Kate and her friend and Kara instantly remembered she should be snooping.

Not that snooping was the right thing to do.

Perhaps 'sleuthing' was a more acceptable term.

"Something about Bruce Wayne and a party earlier. Apparently Kate was sick or something too and Lena took care of her." Kara replied, not being able to help the slight change in the tone of her voice when she mentioned Lena.

"Ah, so that's why." Alex murmured but Kara ignored her, choosing instead to focus back on Kate and her friend.

"Oh God, so that's what Damien broke!" Kate replied, trying not to laugh.

"Yep." Grayson replied in between sniggers. "You should have seen how mad Bruce was. He was already having a long day then. Jason dropped by too."

"Ah, so how's the black sheep of the family?" Kate had asked.

"Still going on about with things his own way. I think he's forming his own ragtag band of outlaws, shall we say." Grayson replied.

And for the second time that night, her eavesdropping had been interrupted, this time by Maggie Sawyer walking up to Alex. "Danvers, ready for that game?" Maggie asked Alex before turning to acknowledge Kara, "Kara, it's nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too." Kara replied only remembering that Alex had a Monday night game of pool with Maggie.

Maggie then turned towards Kate's direction. "What is she doing… hang on…" she started to say. "I'll be right back." Maggie then said to Alex before walking towards the booth with a huge smile on her face.

Kara turned to Alex who looked just as confused. "Dick Grayson, nice to see you lost in our neck of the woods." she said greeting Kate's friend.

Dick laughed, standing up and pulling Maggie in a quick hug. "Nice to see you too Maggie." he then replied.

The two exchanged a few words, Kate butting in every now and then about the party Dick had mentioned earlier before Maggie made her way back to the bar with Dick.

"Alex, this is Dick Grayson. He's a friend from Gotham." Maggie started to say introducing him to Alex, "Dick this is Alex Danvers and her sister Kara."

"Hey." Dick greeted as Alex shook her hand with a welcoming smile. Completely the opposite of how she interacted with Kate earlier.

"I have to say, I was a fan of the Flying Graysons." Alex then said as the group briefly talked about Dick's circus past. Soon, Maggie challenged Alex to their game of pool, Dick joining them as they made their way to the pool table, challenging the winner of their game.

Kara turned around, and saw Kate Kane simply watching them for afar, looking thoughtful before turning to Kara's direction. She smiled, raising her own glass of drink at her before taking a sip.

Kara took a deep breath, this was her chance. With one last drink she made her way to where Kate was sitting.

She was gonna get more substantial answers from Kate Kane herself.

Hopefully this one goes smoother than how things went with Lena.

* * *

Lena found herself rubbing the side of her temples at the end of the day having just consumed her third glass of wine for the night.

It's been a long day. Mostly it was long because of the amount of work she's been doing, half for the sake of L-Corp, half digging into Cadmus.

Then of course there was Kara's visit for another interview, this time for a piece regarding powerful women and relationships…? Lena wasn't really sure. Kara herself sounded confused about the matter.

She felt a little bad really. As soon as Kara mentioned 'relationships', Lena was already on the lookout for any red flags with the interview. She didn't mean to make the whole thing awkward or tense with Kara just that, well… Kara can act the awkward bumbling reporter all she wants but Lena could see she has the makings of a great reporter. She was smart, honest, and earnest. If anything she had an eye out for the truth. She was afraid this might circle back to her mother and Cadmus.

The whole matter had her already on edge. It didn't help that she's had to deal with the stupidity that was gossip columns and online blogs that morning too. She's seen the tabloid magazines and their headlines for the day. Seriously, Kate owed her big time. She had gone to check on her after the attack, mostly just to thank her for pulling through, when she saw the state her vigilante friend was in.

"Things got a little rough back in Gotham," she had told Lena when she saw the bruises, the bandages, and oh God, the bloody scar that ran along the left side of her lower back that still looked fresh. "That one was actually from Deathstroke. I had to intervene his initial attack and I was ill-prepared having just gotten back."

"How are you still alive?" Lena had asked her incredulously.

"I have a doctor friend who was in town for a conference. I may have also run into an ex-girlfriend who had the foresight of giving me pseudoderm – you _have_ heard of it before, right? I used it to initially patch myself up before hiding away at my doctor friend's place. Really, luck's just been on my side." Kate had explained while Lena helped her onto bed. "It also helps that I have a high tolerance for pain."

She ended up staying over the weekend, mostly to show that she did appreciate the fact that she came to her and Supergirl's aid when they needed help the most.

But the price had been rumors of the two of them possibly dating. Rumors that had sparked ages ago back in Gotham, then Metropolis. Then again, Lena supposed, ridiculous headlines like that was much better than anything Lex-related.

Kara getting dragged into something so trivial like that, however, came both as a surprise and a curiosity to Lena. She has no idea why Cat Grant would have her digging about what she was up to with Kate Kane. A part of Lena figured that Cat would be too smart to play the fool and think that they were actually having some sort of tryst. If anything, she probably sent Kara to try and see if there was something more to it than what meets the eye.

Cat Grant was a smart woman and that much Lena knew and respected of her. So it was not hard to guess that Cat knew that a lot of important business deals and alliances were sometimes made out of boardrooms and offices. Whatever Cat's agenda was – some big scoop for Catco or perhaps looking out for Supergirl because the words 'weapons heiress' and 'Luthor' just spelled trouble – Lena wasn't sure.

What she was sure about was that Kara was most definitely not acting normal.

Like something about the whole thing was bugging her.

And Lena wasn't sure if she should even entertain the thought of Kara possibly being jealous – because that might be reading too much into her behavior earlier, but it did seem like she was – or not but it somehow felt like it.

But now was not the time to get distracted with matters of the heart. Kate was planning to make a move with her associates, and Lena needed to be prepared for what was to come on her end of the battlefield.

Besides, there was no room for _anything_ , if there ever was anything to begin with, right now. Lena knew, Kara was someone she couldn't lose, and losing her was a high risk in her 'game' if she knew what Lena was doing.

But between losing Kara in the way she might if she found out versus losing her in the way she very nearly lost her as Supergirl a few nights ago, then Lena would gladly take the risks and play.

Because she can't, she simply just can't, lose Kara by having her lose her life. She'd rather have Kara be upset and mad at her about the duplicity.

Kate herself was still very much clearly upset with her for her own decisions with regards to Cadmus. They don't talk about it, Lena playing her dangerous games, but they do talk about what mattered with regards to the information they need to stop the organization.

With Lena's help and Kate's own digging – this despite being pretty much on bed rest the whole time for Kate – their weekend turned out to be a very productive one.

"How soon do you think you can act on these?" Lena had asked just last night.

"I would prefer hitting some of them simultaneously. We just need to keep an eye out on movements, in case they pack up and move locations." was Kate's reply. "But I'm hoping we get to Project 13 soon." she had added.

Which pretty much had Lena busy for the rest of the day, juggling her work with trying to figure out where Cadmus could be keeping Lex's currently most precious project of all.

Lena started to pour a fourth glass of wine for herself when the double doors of her office opened and in came a rather dignified looking man. Nothing much about him stood out – brown eyes, brown hair with a streak of grey – other than how he carried himself as if he was the most important man in the room. Jess came rushing in spewing out apologies for letting him inside.

"I'm sorry for the abrupt visit but I thought it was about time we met, Ms. Luthor." the man had said.

Lena gave a quick glance at Jess to signal that she was excused. As soon as her assistant was out of the room, Lena turned her attention back to her surprise visitor. She stood up from her chair and made her way across her desk as she crossed her arms across her chest. "And who are you exactly?" she asked, never for once taking her eyes off the man who had the audacity to stroll right into her office in the middle of the night.

The man had smiled. "So you don't know, interesting. Your mother hasn't said anything then." he replied. "I do apologize about the attack a few nights ago. It was a merely a test."

Lena felt her jaw clench.

The man was from Cadmus. Probably the other director that led the organization Lillian Luthor pertained about.

Here he was flaunting himself in front of her, telling her what she already knew.

The attack was a test. Perhaps a test of her loyalty, how it was one, Lena wasn't sure. She was sure, however, with how the man before her was regarding her that he was carefully studying her every movement.

"For Supergirl." he then added, answering Lena's own unspoken question. "We wanted to assess the limits and strengths of the _specimen_ , we didn't have much data on her, unlike Superman." he edified and yet Lena couldn't help but think that there's more to it.

An unspoken test that may come in handy.

Like, say, how much Supergirl would be willing to lay her life for Lena's.

But Lena kept the blank expression on her face as best she can. She can't let him know just how ticked off she was with how he had called Supergirl a _specimen_.

Thankfully, Lena didn't have to say anything as he went on.

"But do forgive me, I haven't introduced myself," he said, "I am Dr. Paul Westfield. I've had the pleasure of working directly with your brother on a rather _special_ project."

"What can I do for you, Dr. Westfield?" Lena then asked, still not giving away any of her inner most thoughts or feelings, she was keeping it cool.

Despite the fact her heart was pounding against her chest, despite her eagerness to know if the project he was talking about was the one they were trying to find.

And Dr. Westfield gave her a confident and knowing smile. "You see, Lena, while your mother has been of great help to our cause, there's something I'm afraid _only you_ can help me with." he replied, taking a few steps to approach the CEO, only stopping about a foot away.

Lena gave him a tentative smile in response. "What can I do to help?" she asked, already dreading the response she was about to get.

But whatever it was, it was too late now. She was in too deep.

There was no turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick Grayson sticks around for a while, he leaves before Arrowverse peeps show up though. We also get to meet Barbara Gordon in actual scenes not just as Oracle.
> 
> On the Bludhaven team comment, Kate's younger cousin, Bette Kane, is also a hero in her own right taking up the mantle of Flamebird and becoming one of the Teen Titans at some point. She took the name Flamebird as a counterpart to Nightwing, both were part of Kryptonian legends. Fun fact, she's also Bruce's cousin and yes, Kate and Bruce are cousins.
> 
> Kate and Dick's conversation notes: Kori = Koriand'r, aka Starfire, was Dick Grayson's girlfriend at some point in the comics, she was a Tamaran princess; things about Jason = he is the Red Hood and he has his own brand of being a vigilante, in the comics he forms a team with Starfire and Arsenal, their title was called 'Red Hood and the Outlaws'
> 
> Regarding pseudoderm, Kate's ex-girlfriend is Renee Montoya, who takes up the mantle of the Question at some point. When she was nearly sacrificed, she gets a knife to the heart that she removes to stop Bruno Mannheim. To stop her from bleeding to death, Renee uses pseudoderm, which is also the material that the Question's mask is made up of, before getting her help.
> 
> Up Next: Sanvers first date (the chapter will mostly be focused on them)! A bit of Supercorp (a build up to chapter 12 really). And some SuperBFF time with Kara, Alex, Winn, and James (and a Kara and James talk that I just couldn't fit in this chapter… It was getting really long) ;)


	11. Double Dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's the new update. Still pretty long, so let's just all assume chapters are gonna be long from here on out. We're about a third of the way through this fic already, yey! But there are still more to come too. I'll try to get the chapters to a reasonable length next time…
> 
> But for now here's chapter 11 featuring Lena's new ventures, Kara trying to navigate her friendship with Lena and what it's possible consequences, some mentions of the Cadmus raids, and Alex and Maggie's first date.

Kara found herself busier than ever. She's already been on edge thanks to a few mishaps at work – Snapper had just recently assigned her on two different stories after the news broke on L-Corp's current venture, Kara volunteered to be a part of the story but Snapper thought it would be best to keep her out of this one. There's a bit of controversy with it and Kara's position as Lena's friend may put the integrity of the publication into question if she was to be assigned to the piece. It didn't help that Kara went to see Lena anyways and talk about it, her own personal curiosity about Lena's interest in space and astronomy getting the best of her. The two of them ended up getting into an intense argument, with Lena's current project sounding more like a surveillance of any alien life form that is out there.

It didn't help that the last few days felt like an adventure on its own, always keeping her on her toes. With the new intelligence on the ten Cadmus labs that Kate Kane had provided the DEO, plans of Cadmus raids have been instantly drawn.

Kryptonite, all forms, shapes, and sizes of it, were being shipped and dropped off in the DEO's own front steps, or balcony if you will. Just the other day a man in green and black threads and a mask did just that, carrying a lead-lined case of kryptonite using a green light that emerged from a ring he was wearing. "Stay away from this one." he had said when he turned to face Kara. He left soon enough asking her to send his regards to Superman who decided to help with the raids at the Russian labs with Mon-El and Alex.

Turns out that the case he delivered had black kryptonite, and from the videos of the Fort Rozz Kryptonian that they still had on file, it split the personality of a Kryptonian into two, the good and the bad.

So Kara most definitely heeded the advice.

Alex and Superman came back with a different kind of kryptonite, an experimental one that they called 'X-kryptonite', and while it wasn't particularly harmful for Kara and her cousin, it did grant powers to any sentient being exposed to it. Mon-El didn't find any kryptonite in the labs he raided with the help of Agent Vasquez. Instead they found something far more terrifying than what they would like to admit.

While Kara was thankful that action was being taken to immediately stop or at the very least cripple Cadmus a little, she couldn't help but find herself in the middle of a bigger, greater plot that she's been trying to grapple with and understand.

Mon-El handed the flash drive that contained the information Agent Vasquez downloaded from the pods labelled 'VII' and 'VIII'. Both looked like they were human but were in fact androids robotically engineered to mimic Superman's powers. Both also looked rather disfigured and with Winn's help in decoding the files they understood why.

The base was all mechanical but the supposedly human component were all derived from a variety of alien DNA – including Kryptonian DNA – that would not stabilize.

"This must be what gave birth to Project Cyborg Superman." Kate Kane then said thoughtfully snapping Kara's attention to the present. In her hand was her own flash drive. "From Nightwing and Batwoman's own raids." Kate explained as she handed it over to Winn.

And what Kara saw was by far more terrible than the inhuman projects that Cadmus had done on humans just to make their own Cyborg Superman, making Kal tense up even more.

"Where was this?" Kal asked.

"Gotham." Kate replied. Superman took a deep breath to calm himself as he studied the images with great detail.

Three pods labeled 'IV', 'V', and 'VI' all looked like humans. The 'IV' looked like it was supposed to be an adult male with sparse black hair, completely mutated and disfigured. The other two looked like they were adult males as well, brown hair with one of them having a streak of grey. The pod labeled 'VI' had the adult with the grey streak, lacerations on his torso revealed that parts of his body was replenished with metallic parts – this must have been the start of the whole cyborg project – while the hints of blue and orange skin patches suggested his DNA was mixed with a few different species. The pod labeled 'V' looked to be the most human, however the data Winn had pulled up revealed his organs had mutated and had started failing, not being able to sustain much of his life on his own.

"Who would do this? Who would have an idea to even…" Kara found herself saying. Earlier that day they were studying 'I', 'II', and 'III' after Kate provided them the information.

"A Luthor would." Kal replied with a low growl.

"You mean _Lex_ would." Kate had corrected, her tone sharp. "And his mother."

"In other words, his family." Kal then countered.

"You can't over generalize like that." Kate replied keeping the edge on her tone and Kara didn't need to try to figure out why.

She was defending Lena without a hesitation.

"Kate's right." Kara then found herself saying, causing Kal to give her a look. She might be having some misunderstanding with the CEO right now, but Kara knew, at least a part of her did, Lena still had the best of intentions. "Kal, my uncle and my aunt wanted to unleash Myriad last year. When you reached out just after that incident and we went to the Fortress to do a preemptive strike of anything Kryptonian-related that might pose any kind of threat, we discovered that _my_ father, _your_ uncle, developed a virus that would wipe out any form of alien life other than Kryptonian. I mean, considering it was programmed to attack anything without Kryptonian physiology, I'm assuming it should also attack humans. The point is _our_ own family has done its share of morally questionable things and we're still here trying to do what's good. It's not easy to realize that the people you look up to could be bad, but I don't think it would be easy to forget that little fact when we see other people dealing with the same thing and pass judgement on them. Lena is neither her brother nor her mom. Leave her out of this."

"I know what you're trying to say, but someone has to be pulling the strings behind all this. Lillian Luthor is an easy answer, but can she do it alone?" Kal argued back.

"No, she can't. That much is true. Not with the vast resources that Cadmus seem to have, not to mention the wide reaches of their operation. Someone has to be taking charge and working alongside her." Kate replied, pointing out the obvious. "But it's not Lena."

"You say that as if it were a fact." Alex then pointed out and Kara couldn't help but feel the insufferable tension mounting even more.

"Winn, pull out the name Paul Westfield." Kate asked him and Winn wasted no time in doing just that.

Except, he really didn't need to pull out the name, J'onn recognizing it immediately.

"Dr. Paul Westfield, you mean?" J'onn asked Kate and the redhead nodded. "He was in the military before, he was supposed to be a part of Project Cadmus when it was still a part of the DEO but due to some conflicts he backed out. Are you saying when Cadmus split…"

"…and when Lex acquired the project, he placed Westfield on the team? Yes. At least that's what I got from my sources."

"And are your sources as reliable as you think?" Alex then butted in.

"Yes, they are." Kate replied adamantly. "Besides, I did a little digging of my own. Westfield's research and specialties, they fit well with the projects right before our eyes."

"So you think Westfield's pulling the strings?" J'onn asked to clarify what Kate meant.

Kate took a deep breath. "I don't know. He may be working with Lillian Luthor or there may be more people behind the scenes. Who knows? All I know is Cadmus must be stopped."

"I agree." Kal then said resolutely. "No news on Project 13 then?"

"About that…" Kate had started to say before excusing herself, Superman, and J'onn to talk privately.

Apparently she didn't want to raise any alarms that didn't need to be raised, the topic itself being very delicate.

So Kara resigned herself to her fate of not being included. Not that she was okay with it, she was very much annoyed with all the secret keeping. Besides, it's not like she would go rogue and unleash her wrath on Cadmus. She was really tempted to, but that's not her way.

Alex though, had other ideas.

One battle between puppy dog eyes and pouting later, Kara relented to Alex's idea – mostly because her curiosity was getting the best of her – and found herself at a comfortable distance where she could try to eavesdrop on Kate, J'onn, and Kal's conversation at a conference room.

With the help of Winn, whatever was keeping Kara from using her super-hearing was deactivated.

She should be feeling guilty about this. She's done it three times already in one week. But she needed answers.

Unfortunately, that's not what she got. Whatever it was they were talking about that was of sensitive information, it was over and done being discussed. They moved on to more of a casual conversation, if casual was a way to call it really.

"Just because I've grown fond of you, Martian Manhunter, doesn't mean I've forgotten about the DEO threatening to throw my father into jail or the fact that you made helping my sister recover more difficult than it should be – granted, I am thankful to the DEO for bringing her back to me, just not with the circumstance it's associated with." Kate replied under her breath.

"Covens acting up again? Is that why you returned to Gotham briefly?" her cousin asked.

"Yes, well, they want their high madam back. Thankfully _she_ is currently on the redemption side of things and wants to get better after the whole 'I want to kill you' phase. Mannheim came back to take charge of things. Don't worry, sent him back to where he belongs. The little cult and their friends won't get my sister back." Kate then replied and Kara couldn't help but sympathize with her. She was more complicated than she initially thought, only seeing the socialite aspect of her persona.

It made her feel a bit guilty really, especially with her behavior a few days ago during the interview. Mostly because it felt like she was trying to interrogate Kate from her part.

But then again she remembered Kate teasing her all throughout the said interview every single time Lena's name came up – Kate's knowing wide grin was still causing her to fidget and fumble and be all clumsy, because first of all, _what on earth does she even know!?_ _But that wasn't the point…_ – and somehow she starts to feel less guilty.

"I still think we can make one fine agent out of you." J'onn then replied. "And would you please stop calling me that?"

"I'm already happy with what I do, besides I have some issues with working for the government." Kate replied before giving an amused chuckle. "It's a cool name. It came out of your mouth too. Think about it. Embrace it."

" _He_ is still insistent you join us." she then heard Kal say. "He's starting to think Supergirl's ready as well. A certain Amazon too. I think _she_ may be interested in training her a little."

"Well, I think she is ready." Kate then said, making Kara wonder about what it was they were talking about. "But on a different note, I spoke with my friend. He says that he's close for a more viable treatment with your condition, J'onn."

"Thank you." Kara heard J'onn say.

"Are you still keeping the White Martian locked up?" Kal then asked and judging from the heavy sigh that J'onn heaved as a reply Kara could tell this would lead to a different long argument.

She returned to meet Alex and Winn both waiting expectantly from some news. "Sorry, but whatever it was, they've stopped talking about it when I started listening in." Kara explained. Alex took in a deep breath before almost saying something about Kate – she's been complaining about her more and more – but Kara stopped her sister. "Stop wasting your time thinking about Kate and focus on more important things. You have a date tomorrow." she then said.

" _You_ have a date tomorrow. Why haven't I heard about this?" Winn then asked amused. Alex turned to face her sister waving her hands at Winn and looking annoyed.

But Kara simply shrugged. She figured that makes them even with the whole picture Alex had taken.

Still, she didn't want Alex to stress too much about it, especially since she hasn't exactly come out to anyone else other than Kara, and well, Maggie.

"So, who's the lucky…" Winn started to ask.

"None of your business, Winn." Kara quickly said, cutting off and Alex relaxed a little giving Kara an appreciative smile. "But, my sister has a date tomorrow night and I think we still need to plan your outfit, yeah?"

"Now?" Alex then asked.

"Might as well. You never know what tomorrow will bring." Kara then replied and the matter was settled.

* * *

Lena wasn't sure what she was doing. It was so easy to forget that she was supposed to be just a mere human being, living life the best she could, when she's been thrust upon such a precarious position.

She was the CEO of L-Corp entrusted with a task to clear up her company's name, move it to the direction that would actually help make the world a better place and right the wrongs her brother had done.

She was Lionel and Lillian Luthor's daughter. Adopted, true, but she was raised as one. Being taken in by the Luthors at such a young age, she could barely even remember a life other than being one of them.

It was hard to think that there could have been a life waiting for her where she wouldn't be where she stands now, that things could have been different.

A life where she could have been blissfully ignorant of what Cadmus was, where she could be happy somewhere else and content about her life.

Lena smiled to herself, it was rare that she'd let her melancholic thoughts get to her, but she couldn't help her mind wander. She was standing on the second floor terrace of L-Corp's soon to be astronomy facility just outside of National City, leaning on the railings and watching the few stars up in the night's sky through the glass covered ceiling.

She finally managed to pull her eyes away from the view once she heard footsteps making their way towards her. Kara looked quite uncertain as she made her way towards where Lena was. Lena found herself able to breathe again, Kara had come.

She was afraid she might have pushed her away with a finality after their argument that morning.

The timing was probably a little inappropriate with all the tension surrounding the alien registration act and movements for and against it being more vocal than ever. But Lena believed in what she was doing and pushed forward in the plans nonetheless.

Lena wanted to support research into space venture and more. To learn about alien life forms that exists and may still come and visit them. Aliens exists, that was pretty much proven true already and she wanted to know and understand even more. If only to provide help for them. Healthcare, job opportunities, understand their needs and their reasons for coming to earth and stop the misunderstanding that was breeding hatred and fear.

She most certainly does not want to do it in the way Cadmus defined learning aliens. Not the way her brother would have done.

She had been talking with Kate about possibilities of collaborating in some projects more along the lines of military defense. Sure there were good aliens, but there were also bad ones that may want to invade their world. She knew that the Hamiltons were already pushing forward projects that wanted to deal with criminal alien activity, and like Lena, develop devices that could aid law enforcement deal with alien tech, and that may have been one of the things that rubbed Kara the wrong way. It would be easy to be misinterpreted and really the technology could be a double edge sword, used by anti-alien sympathizers to hurt good and lawful ones.

Lena also wanted to further advance the study of other planets, if only to enhance biomedical and renewable energy research. The alien tech they've encountered so far seems to suggest the idea of more advanced scientific notions in terms of renewable energy. If anything, alien physiology and the advance technology they possess seem to suggest great potential advancement in treatment of incurable diseases too.

But again, Lena knew, it may look bad on the outside, and she also understood the dangers of it. She wasn't planning to open aliens on a table, she was more leaning towards the side of space exploration, discovery of new planets, possibility of establishing beneficial relationships with them along the lines that science fiction may suggest with its popular movies and shows.

It was a world of possibilities ahead of them. She wanted to learn, to understand, to explore. More than that, to do it the right way.

But what is the right way? Lena wasn't sure. The only thing she knows is that hers might not be it in the eyes of others, what with Kara seeming to be on the defensive side of things.

She wants to learn from it, if she truly is making mistakes, and find better ways to carry out her plans.

Kara had left her office with things up in the air between them and it didn't sit well with Lena, so she tried reaching out, wanting to show Kara the astronomy facility and give her a tour of it, prove to her that there were no secrets attached to it.

Because Lena could only guess where Kara's mind was going, what with Cadmus and their illegal research still going on. She wanted to be transparent to _her_. Not to Supergirl, not that persona, but to Kara Danvers, her _friend_.

"I have to admit that this looks like a pretty impressive facility." Kara then said leaning on the rails. Lena smiled nervously, she wasn't entirely sure what would happen next. When she called Kara earlier, she seemed to have been busy with her sister.

Really she was just relieved she still hasn't lost Kara, especially when Lena knew that she was keeping a few secrets that could most definitely push her away.

"Listen Kara, about earlier," Lena started before the two ended up chorusing on "I'm sorry."

"What? You shouldn't be Lena. I might have over reacted. I mean, I saw things on one side but didn't really consider where you're coming from. And…" Kara said as she started rambling on.

"No, I should apologize Kara." Lena said, cutting her off. "I think I may have taken you for granted, hoping you'd see things my way. The thing is, I do understand your reservations about the project. Good and bad, right or wrong, they seem to be two sides separated by one very thin line. I see how what I want to happen can be perceived by others and, well, I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing most days." she went on.

"I think that happens to the best of us." Kara replied. "It's just, what you're doing…"

"Feels like it's very much influenced by my brother?" Lena said, jumping in and finishing Kara's sentence. She gave Kara a weak sad smiled before going on, her fingers playing with the gold bracelet she was wearing. "In some ways it is. I want to right his wrongs despite seeing merits on some of his ideas. I don't know Kara. All I've ever understood and seen in my life, they were mostly influenced by the Luthors. It's hard to think that I almost wasn't one when it's a truth I grew up with. That's no excuse I know, but I want to know more, understand. I want to do good things but I don't know which step I should take first or how."

"That's kind of hard to believe, Lena." Kara replied. "I think you're doing fine, just, timing's all sorts of wrong."

"Really?" Lena asked amused. "If I remember correctly you were the one who originally wrote a very scathing article about my alien detection device."

"That my boss made me re-write and again, I admit, that it made me see where you were coming from. People are afraid of what they don't know, what they can't understand. And there are bad aliens out there who can hurt others." Kara then said in a good humored tone. "Not everyone is like Supergirl, I mean, for example."

"Yes, but your reaction got me thinking." Lena then replied, taking her eyes off of Kara's before looking up again in the sky, losing herself in her thoughts. The same thoughts that have been keeping her awake at night these days. Thoughts she never really has paid any attention to before when she had no care in the world other than upholding the Luthor name, the name she wore proudly like a badge on her chest. But those days were gone, and Lena was starting to wake up and perceive the world around her more and more.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she smiled and went on. "I've been thinking, what if one day human beings can land on some distant planet? Would I really want to be treated like I'm a second class citizen they needed to identify? Because in that situation _I_ would be the alien. I would be the one they don't understand or know. And well, if human beings are any good example, we tend to fear what we don't know. Fear is a powerful weapon and the hysteria that an attack can cause, that misunderstanding breeds… what good would my device bring? It could help the police, for example, to find an alien who can hide themselves among humans if said alien did a crime. But people might not be ready for that. At least our society right now. Because what if things get out of hand, with the recent mercenary attacks, the presence of weapons that could hurt Supergirl, of all aliens… I think it's better to shelf the idea for now. I want to find better ways to help others." she went on, explaining her true concerns.

Besides, the memory of Kara on her knees, weakened by her enemy wielding a blade that could very much slice through her skin was still visiting Lena in her nightmares and she most definitely don't want to see a sight like that ever again.

Especially when Cadmus was still highly active.

She knew, of course, that Cadmus would have interests in her new project too, but they were at the beginning stages, and Lena playing her little game with her mom and now Paul Westfield could afford her ways to prevent them from corrupting her own work by their intentions. It would still take about a year or two before they actually do ground breaking work and Lena was hoping that by that time Cadmus would be out of the picture.

"Lena…" Kara found herself speechless after hearing all that Lena had said. "I…"

Lena turned her attention back to Kara and smiled. Some days she still couldn't believe it herself, the perfectly human looking nerdy reporter, the one who rambles endlessly when she's nervous, and fidgets and fumbles whenever she'd play with her glasses or the pen she had in hand, the one who blushes easily and who smiles brightly, was an alien. Someone who literally fell from the sky.

One day, maybe Lena would hear the stories about how Kara landed on earth, why she was here.

But she'll be content in simply just learning more. Not just about aliens, or space, but on how she could use her position of power to leave a positive mark on the world.

It was a strange feeling, being honest and open for a change. Lena was so used to keeping her thoughts to herself, being guarded. But with Kara, it was just so easy to do so. She trusted her whole-heartedly, making it easier for her to speak her mind, show her doubts and insecurities, admit that she's not as sure and confident as she would appear.

She wasn't perfect but she didn't need to be around Kara because she was never expecting perfection from her.

She was just expecting Lena to be, well, Lena herself.

"You don't have to do that you know? If there's anyone who could make sure that technology like what your company has won't fall into the wrong hands, it would be you." Kara then said. "I know things are complicated, because why on earth would things ever be easy, right? But, I don't know. The more I move forward the more I understand that nobody's ever perfect and even the best intentions fall apart. I wish there was a way to help others, save the world our own little ways, because you know, it's not like we're superheroes or anything, but, just a way without being too naïve or prejudiced. To understand that it's not easy. Again, I'm sorry about earlier. I've just been having a long day and people around me keep on butting heads over whose approach is the right way in solving a problem, or how one should act with regards to a certain problem, or whose _sources_ are the _right_ sources. I guess everyday I'm still learning too, as well as other people around me. You don't have to shelf plans just because one person won't agree with you."

"I know, Kara. But then again, I asked Kate to try the device and it said she was an alien, failing the skin test that morning I introduced her to you." Lena said with a chuckle. "It took me six months to get the prototype right but it seems like it's broken now. Maybe it was never fully functioning in the first place."

"Wait, did you say _you_ made the device? Like built it from scratch and all?" Kara then asked staring at her in a mix of disbelief and awe. If Lena wasn't imagining things, she could also see a hint of guilt in those impossibly blue eyes of her.

Somehow Lena couldn't help but think that Kara had something to do with her device failing, it did give a false result on her as well.

Lena simply smiled upon this realization more than Kara's reaction. "Well, yes, I did. But I can always just work on it again in the near future. I've been busy with other things lately." she replied. "Now, Kara, would like a tour of the facility?"

Kara nodded, taking a brief peak of the stars above them. "I would love to." she replied with a smile.

Lena offered her a hand and Kara gladly took it. She couldn't help but smiling as she showed the reporter the way around.

Some days she just felt so lost, wishing things could have gone differently. It was good to know that there was someone who can ground her and remind her that it's not so bad where she was.

* * *

Alex stood uneasily right next to Kate Kane. She still wasn't quite sure how to regard the redhead next to her. The alliance, at least _her_ alliance with the once upon a time DEO agent, was still on shaky grounds. Mostly it's because she could tell that Kate was hiding a few things of her own, and depending on what those secrets are, Alex felt that she might very well jeopardize the whole mission.

She kept it mostly to herself though, despite the ragtag team they have assembled in their control room consisting of Winn, Kara, and James – now fully welcomed as Guardian – noticing her not so subtle glares at the porcelain skinned heiress.

A part of Alex was very much just tempted to lock the redhead up and interrogate her, figure out what her play is, why she's even involved in this. After all, her motivations are still unclear.

But that won't do them any good, especially at a time when they need all the help they could get. The temporary solution to J'onn's condition was waning out, the Green Martian was once again out of commission, if only to help control his transformations. It didn't help that upsetting him only made things worse, especially with his recent arguments with Superman regarding their locked up White Martian who, as Kara's cousin argued, may actually be an asset to the team if they let her help. She seemed to be genuine in her intentions and both Kara and Clark agreed on that.

Alex was already worried sick about him, although J'onn kept reassuring that he'll be okay for as long as he sticks to resting. Thus, the weight now fell on Alex's shoulders. It was time for her to take charge.

While the city was relatively quiet and the planned raids were still on going, and going on successfully, there really wasn't much to do.

But then Kate Kane had to come strolling in again with an update on two more locations of Cadmus Labs. A run down factory outside of Hub City and beneath the old science complex at a state university in Blue Valley. Alex was a little disappointed with the news – granted it was good news since they were making great progress in cracking down on Cadmus – but that meant that she had to make plans and form teams to send there, take charge of the raids.

And by extension, that meant that she might have to cancel on Maggie on their first date.

"I've got a friend who can help us in Hub City. Nightwing's also on his way to help out. The Teen Titans are on their way to Blue Valley now too. All we really need to send is back up." Kate then said before Alex could even do anything, and while Alex was thankful for the assist, she wasn't exactly ecstatic either that it came from Kate Kane.

"Well, Superman's currently busy with his own problems at Metropolis, some guy named Mxyzptlk was apparently causing some mischief, but I can zoom in to one of the cities for help." Kara spoke up.

"Thanks Supergirl but based on the intel, we're expecting a few shipments of kryptonite. The spaces are small based on the blue prints and no alien activity was noted in any of them. The notes we've recovered also point in the direction of experiments with Kryptonite, possibly testing effects on the cadavers deposited around the area. At least gathering from surveillance footage that Oracle managed to record. If anything, they might actually try combining or mixing different types. I advise you stay away for this one."

Alex then sighed. "She's right, Supergirl." Alex found herself saying. "Besides, with the raids we've been doing, Cadmus might just want to retaliate soon enough."

"Wow Agent Danvers, I can't believe we finally agreed on something. Is this the beginnings of a beautiful friendship?" Kate then retorted with a smirk.

Alex simply rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it." she replied dryly. "But we're down on agents and we'll need all the help we can get."

"Right, well don't worry much about it Agent Danvers. I've got it covered." Kate then said.

To which Alex immediately replied, "I think we're good. Besides, _I'm_ the one J'onn left in charge."

"I know." Kate replied simply. "But don't you have a hot date?" she teased and Alex couldn't help but be off guard by the comment, opening her mouth to try and say something only to find out that no words would come out.

She knew she and Maggie were still friends, but still, she didn't quite expect her to know anything.

Kate then laughed a little, turning around as she walked away. "Don't worry Agent Danvers, I heard from a mutual friend." Kate explained. "And don't worry, I won't go taking control of your territory. I'll help the best I can, but not from here. I'm sure Agent Vasquez over there has it covered with the basics," she went on, pointing at a non-suspecting Vasquez who looked up just in time, "and Supergirl, Guardian, and your hacker here will keep the city safe tonight."

"R-right." Kara then said, jumping in to show her support for her sister.

Kate smiled at Kara and gave Alex a wave goodbye. "I'm sure Batwoman would gladly help too." Kate then said before leaving. "So enjoy your night off, Agent Danvers."

"It's that guy Grayson, isn't it? The one James and I saw playing with you and Detective Sawyer?" Winn then asked, trying to tease Alex who simply rolled her eyes and huffed.

Kara tried to get Winn to back off, "What? He's apparently a detective at the Bludhaven Police Department and quite the ladies' man." he explained. "I can't get much info about him, other than the tragedy with his parents and that he was adopted by Bruce Wayne, of all people. Point is, I don't care if he's a pretty face, I want to make sure he's worthy of going on a date with your sister."

Alex finds herself a little bit caught off guard by the sincerity of Winn's little speech, reminding her by just how much her family has grown over the years. Winn gave her a boyish grin before James shook his head and told Winn how wrong he was.

"I know Dick. I've met him once too. He's a bit of a dog but there _is_ a girl who he keeps going back to. Besides, while Alex is quite the catch, he also has a thing for redheads so I don't think it's him." James then added. "But do tell us, Alex, who's the lucky guy?"

Alex bit her lip tentatively before smiling weakly, turning to look at Kara with an uncertainty. Kara smiles back at her as she places a hand on her sister's shoulder, a silent conversation going on between them.

Kara was there for her, she always will no matter what happens. It didn't matter if they didn't share blood, much less human physiology, but they were sisters through and through. They were family.

Alex knew, Kara would never push her or pressure her to tell the truth. She'll always hear her out, be there when she needed her just like she would for her, and she was thankful for that. She was given the space to simply be her, live her truth, and give her the space she needed.

But she also knew that if she wanted to live her truth she needed to tell the people who mattered the most to her that said truth. If they loved her, if they were really her family, they would accept her no matter what. And if they don't, well, she'll always have Kara.

And Maggie. Hopefully Maggie.

Somehow Kara's presence made her feel braver, not that she wasn't but life had different battlefields. While Alex was a great agent on the field and a brilliant asset for the DEO, while she would undoubtedly give her life for her sister in a heartbeat, she understood that sometimes, simply telling the truth and accepting a part of who you were that you struggled with or didn't even realize takes so much courage to do so. That sometimes the simplest of things required the greatest amounts of bravery.

Because the very act of living your life every day to its fullest and getting up in the morning to face the uncertainties the day will throw your way is courage and valor in its simplest and purest of forms.

She wanted to give Winn and James a chance to know the truth. If she trusted them with Kara, she can trust them with her most vulnerable self too.

Alex bit her lip again and took a deep breath. "Well, who's the guy we need to intimidate to treat you right?" Winn then asked all smug that Kara couldn't help but chuckle.

"There's a better place to talk about it than here for starters." Alex started, giving a shaky laugh and immediately asking Agent Vasquez to take over and to alert Supergirl at the first sign of danger.

"We've got it Agent Danvers." Agent Vasquez then said watching their little group curiously as they made their way out.

"W-wait, Alex, where are we going?" Winn then asked.

"My place." Alex simply replied.

"Why? Is this guy someone we won't like? Would we need to sit down for this? Please, God, Alex, tell me it's not Maxwell Lord." Winn started to say overreacting to the news already.

"See, the thing is there is no guy." Alex then replied.

Winn looked at her curiously but James beat him to the punch with the obvious question. "What do you mean?"

"I meant, it's not a… well… not a guy I'm go-going out with." Alex managed to say, taking deep slow breaths to calm her down a little, her face flushing furiously red.

"O-oh." Winn then said exchanging looks with James as they realized what it meant and that was that for a good while.

Kara made a quick stop by for a few beers and pizza while the rest of them made their way back to Alex's apartment.

She _did_ need to get ready for the date. Maggie told her not to stress about dressing up, just that Alex bring her usual adorably nerdy self for the date, the rest would be a surprise. But that didn't mean that she wasn't stressing on what to wear.

Alex only grabbed a beer before she started to get ready, using that time to open up to James and Winn. Again, they were a team, a family, and if she wanted to have Maggie be a part of that then Alex knew she couldn't hide that aspect of herself to her friends.

In the very first place, she shouldn't.

James seem to be taking things pretty well, especially when she started talking about Maggie to them. The photojournalist looked up and smiled at her with a look of understanding when she ended up rambling on and on about how great Maggie was.

Winn had the same look on his face, although he most definitely did not miss any opportunity to tease Alex about the detective. "I should have seen the signs! God, can't believe I missed it! You could never stop talking about Detective Sawyer, much less stare dreamily into space and think of her." he said with a wide grin.

"I do not stare dreamily off into space!" Alex argued, a hand quickly covering her face not wanting her friends to notice how much she was blushing. Kara simply chortled, fifth pizza in hand. Alex couldn't help but notice how much silent she's been the whole time, looking a bit pensive every now and then. She made a mental note of probing what her sister was thinking later. "But uh, well, since you're _all_ here, what do you guys think?" Alex asked, adjusting the leather jacket she was wearing just a little.

"Perfectly Alex." Kara then said, smiling proudly at her sister.

James then turned and pointed at Kara, "Stole the words right out of my mouth, Kara." James seconded.

"Although on that note, just how many pairs of leather jackets do you have? You've changed in like 8 pairs already." Winn noted before Alex mumbled something along the lines of 'none of your business'. "What? I'm just saying, you're gonna slay the detective with your charming good looks."

Alex chuckled and shook her head. "You're all a bunch of nerds." before she heard a knock on her door. Sure enough, Alex felt her heart jump out of her chest, the date she's been trying to not think about else she gets to flustered too function was now literally on her doorsteps. Alex chanced a glanced at Kara who undoubtedly used her X-ray vision because she was beaming up at Alex as she nodded in agreement to the silent question she had wanted to ask.

She took a deep breath, James, Winn, and Kara all smiling brightly at her and really, Alex was starting to think that her rash decision of inviting them over before the date might not have been a good idea. She was nervous and excited, but at least she wasn't a tangled mess of nerves.

Kara beat her to the door, advantages of being a super. James and Winn were already setting down their plates and drinks, standing up in anticipation of meeting Maggie Sawyer, the girl who was capable of taking the most composed of DEO agents and reducing her into a teenager in love.

"Hi." Kara said as she opened the door.

"Hey, is your sister there?" Maggie asked, flashing Kara a bright smile before looking behind her to see Alex herself, and of course the other two people in her apartment. "Having a party without me, Danvers?" she then asked her.

"W-what? No, ignore them." Alex replied.

"Ready to go?" Maggie asked.

"Y-yeah." Alex said, before grabbing her phone and her keys. She turned just in time to see Winn and James make their way over to Kara and give Maggie a smile back.

"You guys okay?" Maggie asked at the three who were now blocking the door, Kara in the lead, her arm outstretched so that she was barricading the door from one side of the frame to another.

She smiled at Maggie once more with her best 'if you ever hurt my sister' look and said, "Just bring her home by midnight."

"And behave yourself, 'cause we've got eyes everywhere detective." Winn added trying to be as intimidating as he possibly can be.

But James seemed to have more success in that department. "What he's saying is that we know people." he simply said with a knowing smile and a shrug.

Maggie simply nodded and chuckled. "Don't worry, she's in safe hands." she said reassuringly just before Alex cleared her throat behind them.

"Can you guys actually let me go now before I have an aneurysm with your antics?" she asked and they parted ways.

Kara gave her a quick hug just before she passed her by. "Enjoy. We've got this." she said reassuringly.

Alex nodded, and released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, along with ten thousand butterflies fluttering about.

She turned around and saw Maggie waiting for her and Alex knew this night would be one of the best nights of her life.

* * *

"Is that their version of a shovel talk?" Maggie immediately asked as they made it out of Alex's building, thankfully in one piece. She couldn't help bet let out a chuckle as she saw blush a little and smiled, crinkling her nose in that adorable way that she does. "Also, wow, Alex. I'm guessing they know."

"Y-yeah. Yeah they do." Alex replied with a grin. "Maggie, I… well," Alex started to say smiling shyly at her, "I know this is technically our first, you know, date, but I… I don't want to have to hide you like a dirty little secret form the people I care about. I _care_ a lot about you too." she said with all honesty.

It's one of the things Maggie just _loved_ about her. She was tough and cool, all-business sometimes but then it's just the two of them and Alex is just goofy, and relaxed, and very expressive. She was open and true to herself at all times. No secrets, no games, just Alex. "But can we please just forget that embarrassing moment up there?" she then asked Maggie.

"I'm just saying, I know people too." Maggie replied with a smirk. "They're not a bunch of heroes but they _are_ very capable vigilantes."

"Is this your way of delivering their version of the talk with me?" Alex asked with feign indignation that Maggie couldn't help but laugh this time. "I'm sure if Kate Kane has a problem…"

"Oh God, Alex, we are not talking about exes, not tonight." Maggie quickly replied. "Besides, I stick with adamantly saying we're just friends."

"Really, because she seems to know about the date and you seem to tell her everything. I thought…"

"I didn't tell her anything." Maggie responded before Alex could even finish. "She knows I like you, and with all honesty, she's given a pretty solid advice of following your heart. But the person I told was a friend from Gotham, her name's Barbara, different redhead. She's the daughter of the commissioner back in Gotham and is sort of on and off dating Grayson."

"So you're telling me she told Kate?" Alex asked.

"Possibly." Maggie replied and shrugged. "Or she told Dick and he blabbed to Kate. But tonight's about just us, Alex. No work, no past chasing after us or anything."

Alex smiled and nodded, agreeing to what Maggie said. She seemed to relax a little before turning to point at Maggie's motorcycle, changing the topic. "So, where are we going? I believe you asked me out to dinner the last time."

"You mean while we were dealing with Deathstroke's mercenaries? Danvers, _I_ asked you out. I haven't forgotten." Maggie playfully replied all smug. She's not known to be the gushy romantic type, no. But she _does_ know how to woo a lady.

"So then, where are you taking me?" Alex asked as Maggie handed over a spare helmet to Alex.

Maggie simply smiled. "You just have to trust me, Danvers."

She wasn't exactly a big fan of fancy restaurants on first dates or anything of that sort. She wasn't a fan of over the top romantic gestures, although those are very much appreciated from time to time. But Maggie liked to keep it simple. After all, sometimes the simplest things in life are sometimes the most beautiful.

Truth be told, the only real reason she ended up telling Barbara about the date when she saw her the other day was because, well, Maggie was nervous.

Alex, she does things to her. Makes her feel things she's never felt in a long while, or ever really. When she's near, she feels the strong pull, drawing her closer and closer to Alex. Like a wave was crashing down on her each time. And when they kissed, God it felt like a lightning was coursing through her very veins.

So yes, Maggie was nervous. She took the plunge, got caught into the moment, and threw caution to the wind when she asked Alex out. She doesn't regret it, no, but it had to go off without a hitch.

No alien attack, no Cadmus, no anything is what Maggie wanted. With everything that's been happening around them, they never seem to have time to just be.

And Maggie wanted that. Just be. With Alex, especially.

She ended up running some ideas with Barbara before finally settling on the one she had planned for tonight.

They reached the park a few minutes before the start of the movie. National City Park held a monthly 'Midnight Movie' showing some classic films, with the first flick typically starting around nine in the evening. Maggie gave Alex a shrug, "Nice spin on a movie first date." Alex then commented as she handed the spare helmet back to Maggie.

"I thought it would be a nice step up from our pool matches." Maggie then replied.

Maggie reached out grabbing Alex's hand, fingers interlacing with each other. Alex looked down and smiled, just like she did during their infiltration of the illegal alien fight club. The two made a quick pit stop at a food stall on their way, Maggie grabbing a prepacked picnic basket she had asked her neighbor, the woman running the food stall, to keep for her.

She rarely does it, but Maggie _does_ cook. Her parents had taught her.

Everything seemed to be going well. The two of them settling in a comfortable conversation about pretty much everything they could think about. Once in a while they would remember that they were in the park, with other people, supposedly watching a movie not gazing into each other's eyes and getting lost in them.

But Maggie found that it was incredibly easy to forget about the world around them and incredibly hard to take her eyes off of Alex Danvers.

That is until both their phones started ringing endlessly and it was pretty much clear that they were not going to get the night off they deserved.

The two exchanged looks, "Bank robbery on West Avenue and a human murdered an alien, yours?"

"An alien brawl at an alley near Shuster Avenue. The same with the murder. Oh, and the DEO's been alerted with an illegal trade of alien tech going down tonight with humans by the docks. Something about Intergang, have you heard of them?"

"Yes, and they're not nice." Maggie replied.

Looks like the date had to be put on pause.

* * *

Alex thought she had a good idea of what a date would be like. After all, she's been on one too many times already.

But nothing compared to what Maggie seemed to have planned for them.

It was _different._ And different in a good way.

There was no awkwardness, no pressure of anything, no expectations. Just them.

Sure, it was simple and relaxed and nothing too over the top. But it was nice. _Perfect._ Because it didn't feel like they needed to step up and fit some kind of expectation from the other.

And _damn_ can Maggie cook.

But then of course, trouble arises and if the DEO pinged Alex despite Supergirl's carefully crafted instructions of not disturbing Alex that night then it was probably serious trouble.

The movie, that truth be told Alex had pretty much already forgotten about, was nearing its end. The two packed up as fast as they could, Maggie dropping off the basket she asked her neighbor to keep for her back to her stall. Duty calls and a picnic basket wasn't exactly the best of weapons to bring along.

The two talked about which crime scene to check out first as Maggie once again handed her helmet to Alex when their phones rang once more.

Guardian took care of the bank robbery.

Supergirl took care of the alien brawl.

Nightwing took care of the murder.

And Batwoman alongside a small army of DEO agents dealt with Intergang's transactions. Supergirl was on her way to assist along with Nightwing, while Guardian – and undoubtedly Winn – went on patrol.

As Kara promised, everything will be taken care of.

"So…" Alex started to say. "I guess we're not needed tonight?"

"Yeah." Maggie said, surprised. "I have to say, I'm a little surprised that we're not missed but I think we should just be thankful things are simple enough for all of them to handle things on their own." Maggie then said with a chuckle.

"So, where to?" Alex then asked with the realization that their night had freed up once more.

Maggie grinned right back at Alex, "Well, I do have some ideas."

The two of them soon found themselves going around National City, Alex getting to know it more and more and in ways she never knew before. Alex was the one who has been living in the city far longer than Maggie but she was pleasantly surprised at how the detective seemed to know it better than she did. They stopped by at a small yogurt place near a hole-in-the wall kind of bar that Alex never realized existed. It was apparently frequented by college kids. Somehow it made sense to Alex why she's never heard of it.

She did enjoy their dessert, and Maggie was right when she said that it was the best place in the city for yogurt.

A few blocks away they stopped for a drink or two at what was called the Barcade. It wasn't much of a surprise that it lived up to its name of being a bar and an arcade. They finally managed to find a game where Maggie could actually beat Alex, outscoring Alex in every pinball game they tried to play.

They soon left and found themselves strolling along the baywalk where Alex remembered her initial talk with Kara. She couldn't help but think about how things have changed since then, once again looking down at their interlaced hands, talking about pretty much everything they could talk about from Alex's childhood back in Midvale and Maggie's brief move to Star City, Metropolis, Gotham, and finally National City.

"So you've been around then, huh?" Alex commented.

"Well, when you lived in pretty much in the middle of nowhere, you would very much like to see the world as much as you can." Maggie then said. "If I never left, I don't think I would have found myself here and I feel like I would've very much regretted missing out on the chance of getting to know you."

Alex chuckled, finding herself rambling something incoherent after Maggie called her out on being an adorable nerd when Maggie got another call of trouble downtown and Alex got a call of a chase with some Intergang members around the local area. Alex sighed, knowing that this time their date was finally at its end. But barely a minute after being alerted, Maggie and Alex both got updates saying that whatever trouble was caused was now under control.

The two of them looked up from their phones and exchanged nervous smiles, Alex shaking her head. Kara was definitely adamant in making sure her sister had the best first date with Maggie. She got another message from Winn saying 'look up' immediately afterwards.

She did, Maggie curious to see what she was looking at when they both saw Supergirl do a flyby, dropping a bouquet of orchids into Alex's hand with the note attached to it.

 _I've got the bad guys, go get the girl_. Alex couldn't help but chuckle as Supergirl flew away.

"I'm guessing _she_ knows too." Maggie asked, highly amused, and Alex nodded.

"You really can't keep anything a secret with Supergirl." she said knowingly, handing Maggie the flowers.

"We better get you home then. It's almost midnight and I wouldn't want Supergirl to be chasing after me like I'm the bad guy." Maggie commented, giving Alex a kiss on the cheek that made her face all the more flushed than it already was.

The whole night – more like every second she was with Maggie, really – she could feel her heart going on a frenzy, like it was fluttering about in her chest. How she manages not to have a heart attack is beyond her. But that's just what Maggie does to her.

And the night couldn't have gotten any better.

That is, until Maggie dropped her off outside her apartment. Alex found herself wishing that Kara was still being kept busy and that none of their friends were back inside her apartment because she would really like to have the privacy of the moment with Maggie. The detective found herself leaning in, closing the gap between them and Alex could feel her heart rate pick up, beating impossibly faster than it did before. "So, t-tonight was fun. It was great, absolutely perfect. I had fun, did you have fun?" Alex started to say, rambling on.

She was supposed to be a trained operative, prepared for anything life would throw at her, but here she was outside her apartment, reduced into a rambling geeky mess of a girl. This never happened to her before. She was usually the one making any guy who asked her out nervous, not the other way around. Maggie Sawyer, she just had that effect on her.

Maggie simply smiles and shakes her head. "You're not going to go crazy on me, are you?" she asked and Alex managed to squeak out a maybe before Maggie finally kissed her.

It was short, simple, sweet. The perfect end really, at least for the night.

And when Maggie pulled away, it felt like she was taking the very breath from her lungs. Alex feeling too incredibly happy.

It started with a kiss, one that had her so scared that she might just lose Maggie if she doesn't embrace her feelings.

It had a messy middle, true.

But here they were, not the end of everything, but a new beginning, and Alex still found herself still trying to figure out how to keep herself able to think whenever Maggie kisses her.

"Are you okay, Alex?" the detective asked.

"Mhmm." Alex managed to say in response before pulling Maggie into another kiss.

She kept it brief. "Next time, it's my turn to take you out." Alex managed to say with a shaky breath, breaking the kiss, pressing her forehead down on Maggie's.

"I would like that very much." Maggie replied.

* * *

Kara slumped down one of the chairs in the DEO control room right next to Winn, placing down a box of pizza she picked up along the way after responding to an incident that broke off the whole thing with Intergang. Batwoman and Nightwing showed up for help, taking care of the incident for the most part.

"More pizza? Did you stop a robbery at a pizza parlor along the way or something?" Winn asked with a chuckle, reaching out for the box and grabbing a slice for himself.

"I'm not complaining." James then said, showing up and doing just the same. Agent Vasquez turned around, shaking her head just before Kara grabbed the box and offered her a slice.

She thankfully declined and Kara simply shrugged. "What? A hero's work is never done, and sometimes that leaves you starving." she replied with a mouthful of pizza.

"Oh, you really did drop by a pizza place in your Supergirl outfit to stop a robbery in progress." Winn then commented, pulling up a file from a street cam somewhere. "And wait a minute, you got two boxes as thanks. Did you devour a whole box by yourself on your way here? I'm hurt Kara." Winn then said.

"No, don't be silly." Kara simply said and shrugged.

"Then what happened to the other box?" James asked and Kara simply shrugged, trying to fight the blush slowly creeping on her cheeks.

On her way back and forth to different places, stopping incidents and saving the day as Supergirl, she kept doing a flyby at L-Corp.

And of course, who does she find but Lena Luthor, burning the midnight oil, working all by herself in her office.

Kara was glad that whatever initial tension between them had dissipated with their little misunderstanding. Kara had to admit, she felt a little bit guilty using her X-ray vision to scope out the astronomy facility only to find out that Lena was most definitely not keeping anything from her. She trusted Lena, she wanted to cheer her on in proving the world that she wasn't like any of her family and yet, Kara found herself failing Lena. All because she was afraid that she might end up falling on the same path thinking maybe Alex was right. We are blind to the people we care about sometimes.

She wanted to make it up to her.

So maybe Kara decided to flyby on her last run before heading back to the DEO and drop the box of pizza on the CEO's balcony. Make sure she's eaten dinner at the least. She would have wanted to drop in as Kara herself but in case duty calls for the nth time that night, she figured going back to the base would be smarter.

Time, after all, seemed to always fly fast when she spent it with Lena and she tends to forget about pretty much everything else.

Lena had heard her landing on her balcony and Kara hurried to zoom away after the delivery, not trusting herself to make any sense if the CEO decided to strike up a conversation. She did see Lena shaking her head, laughing a little as she saw the box of pizza, picked it up, and grabbed a slice.

"Earth to our favorite Kryptonian, care to explain what happened to the other box?" Winn then asked, still pressing on the subject matter.

Kara simply shrugged, grabbed another slice and made her way to the balcony area. Her friends would never let her hear the end of it if she said anything.

"What did happen to the box of pizza?" James then asked, following her there and Kara simply shook her head. "You know what? I wouldn't even mind if you actually ate it all. We've been busy tonight." he said with a smile.

Kara looked over at James with a bit of pride. "I couldn't have done it without you tonight." she said with a smile. Sure, she was still partially upset with the whole 'James is Guardian' thing but the look on his face made Kara let that anger go.

She had that look on her face too when she started being Supergirl, and somehow things clicked in her head the way that they didn't before. "I still think you need to get better and train, but I am proud of what you're trying to do James. And, I am proud to be your friend."

"Just a friend, huh? Things really changed then?" James asked with a hopeful smile. "Look Kara, I'm not going to force anything that's passed, I want you to be happy. Somehow I think that missing box has something to do with it."

"Wh-what? Pft, no… I…"

"You won't stop blushing." James then said, interrupting the rambling mess that was Kara. "You like someone?"

"I-I wouldn't say that I…"

"Look, I know it's probably weird to talk about it but if you need someone to talk things through, if you can't tell Alex something or anything, I'm here." James said. "Whatever happens Kara, I'm here."

Kara took a deep breath and sighed. "Thanks, James, that… that means a lot, actually."

"But seriously, what happened to the pizza box?" James then asked, trying to sound like an interrogator.

Kara chuckled. "Just dropped it off to a hardworking friend."

"Friend? Really?" James then asked with a chuckle trying to tease Kara

"Yes, friend." Kara then replied just before agent Vasquez came coming to get them. The city may sleep but trouble never seems to run out.

* * *

Alex was still afloat from the night before, smiling while trying to patch Kara's little cut on her fingers. The strike teams were all coming back, all missions a success despite still not figuring out the location of Project 13. While things were still tense between J'onn and Clark regarding asking M'gann's help with all of this, the two did manage to talk in a civil manner about bringing in J'onn's most trusted members of the DEO into the loop of what Project 13 was.

"This is between you and Lex Luthor, so if you think it's okay then I will." she overheard J'onn saying.

"We'd have to. The longer it takes to find it, the more Cadmus could…" Clark started to say before shaking his head. He was incredibly upset with it.

But Alex never did get to hear the end of that conversation. Kara managed to run into a case of blue kryptonite, noting how it doesn't make her feel weak like the green. "So what does this one do?" she asked one of the agents taking it to a safe somewhere as she grabbed one small piece of the blue rock.

Only to find that it can actually hurt her, the sharp edges cutting her fingers just before dropping it back to the case.

Alex was about to give her a long lecture but Kara was quick to apologize claiming she should be more careful of the potential effects and stop snooping around potentially lethal items.

"That should do it." Alex said, watching as the slow healing wound disappeared once she managed to remove a small piece of the blue kryptonite embedded in Kara's skin. "So it really didn't make you feel weak or anything?"

"No." Kara replied. "That's why I thought it was safe to touch. Sorry for making you worry."

"Just be more careful the next time, okay?" Alex then said with a smile. She felt like she can handle anything that life throws her way that morning.

Including the case of shipment of kryptonite from Blue Valley as delivered by a young man in a red and black costume calling himself Red Robin. "Ms. Kane wanted me to hand this box to you personally, Agent Danvers." he then said just before leaving. "It's for your Martian friend."

"Thank you." Alex said, uncertain of what it was in the box until she opened it to find a vial of what looked like a possible cure for J'onn's condition a long with a list of digital instructions regarding the dosages.

Alex had dropped it off in the medical bay, wanting to run some tests on a small amount of the sample to make sure that it was safe for J'onn to use when a loud crash was heard somewhere near where the kryptonite cases where being taken to.

There was a sea of pink and purple glow just outside the room they were using for kryptonite safe keeping, the two types they were carrying spilling all over the floor.

One agent kept spewing out apologies and Alex noted him to be one of the agents in the science and engineering department. There seemed to be a small explosion from the new invention he was carrying over to the labs when he ran into some of the agents depositing the newly delivered kryptonite.

The explosion had knocked both Kara and Clark off to the side although they both seemed to be shaking it off at the moment.

"What happened?" James asked running to the site of the disaster along with Winn. "Oh, oh no." he then said seeing the kryptonite that spilled everywhere.

The two types that were inadvertently exposed to both Supergirl and Superman.

And Alex couldn't help but worry about their possible effects to the two powerful Kryptonians in the room.

So much for being able to face whatever the coming day threw her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes, blue kryptonite (depending on the source material) has slightly different effects. In Smallville, it suppresses Kryptonians' powers and removes sensitivity to green kryptonite. In the comics, depending on when in their awesome reboot-filled timeline, it is the analogue of green kryptonite to Bizarro and may have healing effects to Kryptonians. I think recently it's said to kill the spirit of a Kryptonian. I've hijacked those three and made my own for this fic. Taking a bit of this and that.
> 
> UPNEXT: Some more Multi-colored Kryptonite Capers; Some shenanigans (and flashbacks with James); Winn, Alex, and some brother-sister-like bonding; Plus, Maggie and Alex and Kate having an interesting talk about Kara. Let's see if I can upload that by Christmas day?


	12. The Pink and Periwinkle Catastrophe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Clearly didn't upload it by Christmas day but, well, close enough. Title says it all. :3
> 
> Enjoy.

"Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God." James started spewing out before all but running away from the scene of the kryptonite rock spill in the DEO. He pretty much almost shoved Winn out of the way as he sprinted out of the base without even looking back.

The DEO agents managed to clean up the kryptonite fast, some of the medically trained operatives assisting Superman and Supergirl into the medical bay to make sure that everything was fine with them. Alex was quick to check on her sister and her cousin, not wasting anytime to make sure their vitals were stable. The two types of kryptonite had not been in the files so they weren't entirely sure of what to do with it or what to expect. James seemed to have a clue though. Alex wasn't entirely sure if he ran out of the base with a plan to help or to escape whatever ill-fated event would follow the exposure. He seemed to be traumatized by the sight of it.

But then Kara woke up and she seemed to be okay, shaking the whole thing off. "But Kara…" Alex tried to plead with her but she simply shook her head.

"I'm fine, Alex. Seriously." Kara commented before noting what the time was. "Oh Rao, I forgot, I have a deadline to submit with my article. Ms. Grant also wants a follow up with Kate Kane that I haven't exactly had the chance to do considering I can't exactly interview her as Kara Danvers in the DEO base. Do you think I can schedule an interview with her in short notice?"

Alex simply shrugged. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, where's Kal?"

"I'm here. Just, wow, what hit us?" Clark then asked, getting up from the bed.

"I don't know. I'm hoping we could stick around to figure it out but I've got to go." Kara said. "Day job is calling."

"Me too actually." Clark said, starting to get up just as Kara left.

"Wait!" Alex commanded. "J'onn is still out of commission, I'm still acting director, so to speak. We need to figure out what the two types of kryptonite that were exposed to you, well, does." She continued to say.

"Hey, just wanted to make sure you guys were doing okay." Mon-El then said, popping into the medical bay.

Clark then smiled, his sense of urgency gone. "Oh, I suppose waiting a while wouldn't be too bad. I'm at your service." he then said, taking Alex by surprise.

But then again Alex was still reeling from the red K incident of last year so she knew work must be done to stop something like that from ever happening again.

* * *

 

"Kiera! There you are! The follow up to the Hamilton's possible deal, do you have it? Now that Catherine Hamilton Kane herself has expressed interest in working with L-Corp, what with their new business venture, that follow up with Kate Kane is more essential than ever." Cat had said just as Kara ran into her on their floor.

With the hectic schedule Kara had to keep the night before, she almost forgot about the statement that the current head of the Hamilton's company had released last night and Cat's urgent message about it. "I'm on it Ms. Grant, just dropped off the article Mr. Carr wanted from me." she replied earnestly.

"Then go get it. I don't care how many reporters have tried and failed getting an actual quote from Katherine the younger. She's in this city, _our_ city, and we are going to take advantage of it. Get me that quote before this afternoon." Cat replied, settling down on her chair behind her desk.

"Yes, Ms. Grant. I'll even try to get you a full interview if I can." Kara replied, feeling a boost in confidence. Cat quirked an eyebrow at her, trying to figure out what had changed with her former assistant overnight before she finally relented in letting her go.

Kara had to admit, she had no idea whatsoever on how she would even go and contact Kate Kane. Somehow their past interactions were always through Lena's intervention or through pure coincidence or at the DEO when she's Supergirl. Kara decided to take off and check the new base of operations for the Hamiltons in National City, hoping she'd end up running into Kate there.

After all, if she's in charge with the transition she should be there, right?

Kara decided to take her time on the way, stopping by at Noonan's for a latte, trying to wrap her head around everything that's happened during her morning. She was feeling great, truth be told, despite the exposure to not just one but two types of kryptonite she wasn't entirely familiar with.

A part of Kara may have been worried that the same thing would happen to her compared to the time when she was exposed to the synthetic red kryptonite that Maxwell Lord had made. But trying to compare her situation right now to back then, she knew it wasn't the same.

She didn't feel like she was on autopilot, that she didn't have control. She didn't feel an urge to do anything terrible.

She just felt like she was on a mission and the things she were afraid of, well, it didn't feel like they were weighing her down anymore.

If anything, it's like that moment when people who were nervous of doing something takes a sip of alcohol for a bit of liquid courage. Not that alcohol ever affected her, or that she ever tried that before, because again alcohol doesn't affect her, but she has seen people do it more often than not. Especially in those romantic comedies she loved so much.

She found herself outside the recently named Kane Plaza – although the actual inauguration won't be until after Thanksgiving, people were already calling it that – and made her way through the receptionist at the lobby, asking if Kate Kane was there and if she could see her. "Tell her that Kara Danvers from Catco is here."

"Catco? I'm sorry Ms. Danvers but Ms. Kane isn't keen on seeing or talking to any reporters." the receptionist had said.

"Please?" Kara asked with a smile at the woman in front of her. "We're sort of friends – I guess you can say that."

"I'm really sorry Ms. Danvers but –" the receptionist insisted but then Kate Kane herself came sauntering in through the front doors of her family's building.

"Thank you, Evie, but Ms. Danvers is a friend. Please note that if she comes visiting, she is allowed to head straight to my office." Kate then said, addressing her receptionist before turning to face Kara. "Although I would appreciate a call first."

"I, well, I don't have your number." Kara found herself saying and Kate chuckled.

"We can fix that." Kate replied as she led the way.

They arrived at Maxwell Lord's old office, the room a bit in shambles as Kate was still having the room renovated. She explained how her step-mother was thinking of having her stay permanently despite Kate wanting to move back to Gotham soon. "Either way she's sending someone she trusts to head up operations here, so better make it look a little more on my taste just in case it's me. I don't intend to stay long today, I usually just check on things, so I suppose you lucked out." Kate said, leaning back on the edge of the table she was working on, crossing her hands across her chest and a flirtatious smile on her face. "But do tell me, Kara, what can I do for you? Is the visit business or personal?" she asked, adding a little bit a seductive tone on the 'personal' bit.

Kara smiled, realizing that she's never really spoken to Kate at a place where the two were alone. Lena and Cat both seemed to be adamant with keeping the two under close supervision when they interacted, or at least in a place where there were people around. Kate _did_ have a reputation with the ladies, although Lena's reasons seem to be coming from a different place as Cat. But she was here on business, and she wasn't always going to be a bumbling flustered mess of a reporter, she can handle herself. Besides, Kara was slowly but surely starting to learn that Kate flirted more just to tease her – she noticed that Kate's had a habit of teasing people she liked, just like Alex, because yes Kara thinks that Kate actually likes Alex - and that the socialite wasn't really planning on doing much other than to try and get Kara to blush and stutter. She did do the same thing when they were talking about her relationship with Lena Luthor, Kate laughing and teasing as she kept turning the tables around. Kara was supposed to be asking the hard hitting questions and making Kate sweat, not the other way around.

Clearly, she was trying to do the same thing again. "Business. I do have an article to write, and Ms. Grant would love to have a quote on the contracts you have with L-Corp what with the recent announcements made by both Lena and your mom." Kara said, proud of herself of asking the question without stuttering.

"Well, if it's about our reported union…" Kate said playfully before Kara had cut her short.

"Is your family's company interested in working with L-Corp in the near future?"

"Hmm…" Kate then replied as if appraising Kara's behavior. "We're interested sure. There is great potential for our companies working together. The new space venture program by L-Corp is not really within our realm of specialties but building defense systems, security programs, that whole deal, is." she added in a straightforward town. "Personally, I'm not interested in making weapons that could kill, I'm more on the disarm and maim kind. Aliens or not. And the idea for it seems fitting with my own visions, so..."

"Great. Thanks. And what about addressing potential concerns that…" Kara said, jotting her notes down, ignoring Kate's attempts to distract her.

"That Lena is a Luthor?" Kate asked, finishing her sentence for her. "Lena's her own person with her own visions. No one gets to dictate anything to that woman." she added with a chuckle. "I trust her, and business is business. She's a good business woman with her own reputation, if my family decides to pursue this deal with her, I'm all for it."

"Thanks." Kara replied. "And for letting me have this interview, you are letting me quote you, right?" Kara then asked, wanting to be clear with Kate.

"Of course." Kate smile waking towards Kara. "I trust you too, Kara Danvers. Is that all?" she asked, trying to be alluring. "It would be my pleasure to help you with anything else."

"Yes. I think I've got everything. Although I think I should probably get Lena's side of things too." Kara said, shoving her notebook back into her bag.

Kate nodded, and Kara could tell she was trying to read her. "You probably should."

"Right. Thanks again. Oh, and have a good day." Kara then said before turning to leave.

Kara pretty much felt on a mission for the rest of the day, stopping a mini-store robbery on the way from Kane Plaza to L-Corp.

Lena was stuck in a meeting in her office for the good part of an hour. Kara decided to wait, Jess explaining that she wasn't really sure how long that meeting was going to last what with Lena blocking most of her afternoon. She excused herself briefly, claiming to go to the restroom when she heard of sirens passing by L-Corp, Kara zooming away to deal with a burning building as fast as she could to get back to L-Corp as soon as possible.

When she got back, Jess kept eyeing her suspiciously before saying "You can go in now."

Kara smiled back in appreciation before entering Lena's office. The CEO was leaning on the edge of her desk, a tablet in hand and a crinkle on her forehead not looking pleased at whatever it was she was looking at. Her hair was down, cascading down one side, looking like an angel of sorts.

Kara could feel the breath being knocked out from her lungs just at the sight of her, the way the sun filtered through her glass windows didn't help her at all either. If only it made Lena look even more stunning.

"L-Lena, hi." Kara managed to squeak out, her confidence not exactly dissolving but whatever it was that helped her deal with Kate Kane earlier was definitely gone.

All Kara could think of was how beautiful Lena looked today and how much she'd want to wipe away whatever was causing her any forms of stress.

"Kara. Lovely day for a visit? Or is there anything I can do to help?" Lena asked, smiling as always.

And Kara knew she'd be a goner.

At that point it was like trying to resist the pull of an incredibly powerful magnet. Something Kara deemed to be impossible.

Kara gulped as she walked towards Lena, keeping the questions simple and asking her what she thought of Catherine Hamilton Kane's interest in working with her company.

"You need a quote from me?" Lena asked, quirking her eyebrows at her before setting her tablet aside as Kara nodded, not really trusting her words at the moment.

Lena spoke and Kara was quick to jot down what she needed, doing her best not to stare at the CEO because she was scared that Lena would notice.

Except, she wasn't really scared. That was just something she kept telling herself because it wouldn't be the polite thing to do and Kara was the definition of polite.

Kara soon found herself giving in to the urge. She'll look at Lena if she wants to. She'd take it all in really, the very sight of the CEO. She'll memorize every detail of her face from those emerald eyes, to her full red lips, to…

"K-Kara…" Lena managed to say, and Kara would be lying if she said that the crack in Lena's voice didn't do _things_ to her. Suddenly, the CEO didn't sound so sure anymore.

And Kara realized that she could suddenly hear the sudden spikes in her friend's heart rate.

Just as she became fully aware that she was barely an inch away from her. Kara wasn't even sure when she moved closer, or that her eyes kept flickering back and forth from Lena and to her lips, almost leaning in.

"Um, sorry." Kara then found herself mumbling as she somewhat tore herself away from where she was standing, doing her best to gain some distance away from Lena. Suddenly she could hear two heartbeats, hers and Lena's, thumping loudly in her mind like the beating of drums as the thought finally registered in her mind.

She… she very nearly… she almost kissed Lena...

And what's worse is that she knew that she very much wanted to kiss Lena Luthor.

"I-I… um… I should go." Kara then said, trying to avoid eye contact with Lena as she all but ungracefully stumbled out of the office and into the elevator. She needed to leave, she had to. Especially when every fiber of her body just wanted to go ahead and kiss Lena Luthor and Kara was very much well aware of it.

She was also very much aware that she had been hit with two types of kryptonite, and the memory of being under the influence of red K, the things she did… she didn't want to drag Lena into any of that.

Kara took a few deep breaths, both wanting to see Alex and probably just go hide away in her apartment for the whole day. She could do that, she could call in sick and probably email her article before the deadline.

She really needs to figure out what on earth was going on with her.

* * *

 

Alex pretty much had her hands in her hair when Maggie came by to check on her at the DEO. "You okay, Danvers? You look like you're having a crisis and it's barely midday." Maggie commented.

"Maggie!" Alex exclaimed as she shot up of her seat. "What-what are you doing here?"

"I tried calling a few times but you wouldn't answer. Kind of got me worried there for a minute." Maggie truthfully answered.

"Oh, oh, right, sorry." Alex then said checking her phone and nodding along. "Sorry." she repeated. "Just, there's this sort of vaccine, I think, we could use to treat J'onn but I'm currently running analysis on the sample on a few of our instruments to make sure that it's safe to use. Meanwhile, Supergirl _and_ Superman were both exposed to two types of kryptonite this morning and we're still trying to figure out what the effects are. Winn – Remember Winn? – he's trying to run tests with Superman right now and while he is complying, our other Kryptonian is busy chasing after our Daxamite and chatting up pretty much all of our male agents. Supergirl's gone. She insists she's fine and that she needed to do a few other things."

"Okay, Danvers, slow down." Maggie said with an amused smile, sympathetic with Alex. She was clearly worried about J'onn and the Supers "First of all, Superman, as in _the_ Superman, is here?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah, wanna meet him?" she asked. "Or at least see him, I'm not sure he would be in the chatting mood to anyone that's a female."

Maggie was in awe for a second or two. She barely encountered Superman during her brief stay in Metropolis. "Yes. Yeah, sure" Maggie quickly replied and Alex almost chuckled as she pushed herself of her seat, ushering Maggie along. "Now second of all, did you say both Superman and Supergirl were exposed to two types of kryptonite? They're okay right?"

"Yep." Alex replied. "I think. I'm not really sure."

The two turned right around a corner before they soon saw Superman in one of the training rooms looking incredibly interested in every bit of word that Winn was saying, even giving him some fashion advice. "Is he normally like that?"

"Not that I've ever seen him be." Alex quickly gave a reply.

"Hey Alex and, uh, hey Detective Sawyer." Mon-El then said, zooming in right next to them by the doorway.

"Mon-El." Maggie replied, acknowledging the Daxamite. "So have you guys figured out what on earth is going on?"

"I don't know. Winn insists on running every test he could run on Kal-El and then re-running them but his vitals seem to be fine. He's been trying to get Kal to allow him to do what Alex suggested and look into neurochemistry – did I say that right? – but every time Winn tried to get him to the medical bay he ends up finding me and suggests training or goes off to see some other DEO agent."

"So he's exhibiting childlike behavior?" Maggie asked confused.

"I don't know. I tried to get him back to the medical bay myself but he's, well, he's Superman." Alex said pointing out the obvious. "The pink and purple kryptonite exposed to them weren't on the files we have."

"And just to point out, not childlike. Not in the way he's got me pinned down earlier, _definitely_ not." Mon-El then said. "Your other friend, James, he seems to know what the rocks did. Any luck finding him?"

"No, I had Winn find him earlier but he just disappeared. His phone's off and Winn's currently busy with Superman now. The other agents can't find him."

"So you think your friend James can tell you what's happening?" Maggie asked. "I think I know someone who could help with that."

"Really?" Alex asked sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, remember that friend of mine I mentioned last night, Barbara? She's staying at that old watchtower with Dick. We can drop by for a visit."

Alex nodded. "I'm desperately saying yes." she replied. "Winn!"

"Yeah?" Winn asked, looking up for a moment away from Superman who was playing with his tie. Superman looked up, gave a wave and turned his attention back to Winn.

"We're leaving for a while. Keep me posted on any new developments." Alex said. "Do you wanna come with us?" she then asked Mon-El.

"I think I might stick around here." he replied, sounding a little worried when they saw Superman feeling up Winn's arms for his biceps.

Maggie gave Alex a curious look as they turned around and left. She had no idea of what kind of effect different types of kryptonite have on Kryptonians but somehow she has the feeling she already knows what's going on with Superman at least.

* * *

 

"Okay, what's the emergency? And why can't we meet in your place? Why mine?" Kate asked as she handed Dick and Barbara their drinks before settling down on her couch.

"We haven't really set up shop here, just minor equipment. You have a cooler base of operations here." Barbara replied with a shrug.

"You want to use my mini crime lab?" Kate then replied with a chuckle, addressing the other redhead. "Yeah, sure. By all means. Although what is it exactly that you're looking into?"

"We've been doing some digging on –" Dick replied when they heard the door open and close from the foyer, Maggie's voice carrying over as they made their way to the living room.

"If they aren't there, this is the only other place I can think about they would go to." Maggie said, stopping short a few feet away from where Barbara was.

And of course, right next to her was the one and only Alex Danvers.

"Here? _Her_?" Alex then asked, turning to face Kate, waving her hands to point at Kate quite displeased.

"Agent Danvers, welcome to my humble abode." Kate replied, taking over the conversation. "You remember Dick Grayson." she continued before Dick gave her a wave to say hi.

"Hi." Alex said, giving a wave back before turning to the redheaded girl in a wheelchair. "Oh, and you must be Barbara Gordon?"

"Yes, and I'm assuming you're Alex." Barbara replied, pointing out the obvious. "I've heard all about you. Good to finally put a face to the name."

"Oh, um, yeah. Same here." Alex then replied blushing a little.

Kate cleared her throat to get everyone's attention once more. "What can I do for you Agent Danvers?" she asked, partially amused at the sudden intrusion of the person she least expected in her place of residence and partially annoyed. She really ought to get her spare key from Maggie.

"She's not here for you." Maggie then said. "We're actually here to ask Babs for help. James Olsen, he kind of ran off to somewhere and we really need his help, knowledge really, on something. It's sort of an emergency."

"You need my help tracking him down?" Barbara then asked. "Sure, that would be easy."

"What's the problem? I know James. Maybe whatever it is that you need to know, I can help? I've spent a good amount of time hanging out with him and that reporter, Clark Kent, at Metropolis back then." Dick then asked, offering his assistance.

"You know Clark?" Alex then asked sounding a little surprised.

"Considering Bruce Wayne owns the building he works in, including the paper, I would assume yes." Kate then answered for Dick. "Babs, if you want to use _the computers_ in my study, by all means, please. Agent Danvers, can you stay with me here for a little chat?" she then said, giving Babs a knowing look when she mentioned her 'computers'. Alex and Maggie exchanged looks before Maggie gave Alex a nod.

Dick led the way to the study, leaving Kate alone with Alex. Kate waited for the doors of the study to be shut close, standing up to pour herself a drink from her decanter and offering Alex one. Alex declined, standing uncertainly in the middle of her leaving room, keeping a straight face on, her arms crossed. Kate could feel the judgement in her eyes for the drinking but Kate didn't mind. That was what the decanter was for in the first place. "What do you want to talk about?" Alex asked, her tone all business. "I don't suppose you're going to give me a speech about not to hurt Maggie?"

Kate smiled and shook her head. "Kryptonite trouble?" she then asked, and judging from the reaction on Alex's face she hit jackpot. "I've been keeping tabs on the shipments at the DEO, any new cache being dropped off and delivered, and any that are being disposed of. Let's just say a friend of mine wants to keep an eye on things and make sure everything's going on smoothly."

"A friend?" Alex asked with a scoff.

"Yeah, same one who got the initial intel on Cadmus and their devious activities. Why I'm here in the first place."

"And I suppose I can't find out who that friend is?" Alex asked, an edge to her tone.

"Don't worry. He's a friend of Superman's too." Kate simply replied. "Look, I know you've gotten a few new deliveries and I may or may not have run into your sister earlier."

Alex tensed upon hearing the comment. Everyone's been really careful not to bring up who Kara was around Kate, or for that matter any civilian visitors that didn't need to know who Supergirl was, and Kate could tell that Alex was all but ready to kill her for knowing the connection. Clearly the DEO agent still didn't trust her.

She couldn't really blame her either. She _was_ keeping secrets from Alex.

And Kate knew that secrets weren't exactly the best foundation for anything.

While a part of her brain was mulling over a certain decision that needed to be made, she had to focus on the situation at hand. "Agent Danvers, I worked briefly for the DEO dealing with some supernatural cases for the most part,"

"W-wait, did you just say…"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point." Kate then said, trying to keep them on track. "The point is that I worked for the DEO no matter how brief my tenure was. I know who J'onn is and I know who Superman is, and yes I mean his civilian persona. Of course I know who Supergirl is." she edified. "Listen, I ran into her earlier today, she was trying to get a quote from me that's more on the business side of things. It's subtle but there's something _different_ with her."

"Different how?" Alex asked, her attention fully on Kate.

Kate shrugged. "For one thing I was trying to tease her a little, maybe flirt. Your sister's cute when she's flustered." she replied and Alex gave her a threatening look. Kate chuckled. "Point is, she didn't. Get flustered I mean. Now I know different types of kryptonite have different effects, some of them affect how Kryptonians feel or think or react to things. You've got a pretty good database at the DEO but I've encountered some that weren't on that list and the friend I told you about has too. So I know a thing or two. Do you know what color she was exposed to?"

"Y-yeah." Alex replied thoughtfully, relaxing a little. "She and Superman were both exposed to the purple one" Alex said before Kate corrected her.

"Periwinkle." she interjected.

"Fine, they were exposed to the periwinkle one... and the pink one."

Kate couldn't help but crack a smile as she tried to stifle a laugh. "The pink one? That's the second one?" she asked doing her best not to laugh.

"It's not funny." Alex then said, indignantly.

Kate set her drink down, trying to cover her face with as she tried her best to contain her laughter. She was a trained operative after all and yet the whole thing was just too funny not to laugh about. "It kind of is." Kate admitted.

What's more was that it definitely makes her whole interaction with Kara earlier even more interesting.

"Do you know what they do or not?" Alex demanded, trying to keep her tone in check.

Kate bit her lip and smiled. "Yes, and if you said Superman was exposed to the pink one, _again_ , then I know for sure why James left. See, he doesn't know he was exposed to it the last time, just Olsen and our other friend. The Wayne Foundation was throwing a party at _The Daily Planet_ so I was there too and saw things first hand." she said with another chuckle. "Anyways, bad guys were afoot, Supes got hit by the pink K and was under its effects for a while. After it subsided, they never really had the heart to tell him what happened. The periwinkle one I know as a second hand tale when I saw it in the archives of said friend and hearing it from Lois Lane herself."

"So what are the effects?" Alex asked with urgency.

"The periwinkle one, it removes a Kryptonian's inhibitions. It's not that terrible, especially if the Kryptonian is a good person to begin with, I'd assume. It just makes them get over their fears, essentially, and go after what they want. The pink one, on the other hand," Kate says with a playful smile and a curt laugh, "well, it makes Kryptonians gay."

"G-gay, you're saying…" Alex then said a little dumbfounded, "…that's why James…"

"Yep. Let's just say Supes expressed _great_ interest in him that night." Kate replied, throwing a wink in for good measure.

"W-well, that… that makes sense… sort of… Superman _has_ been sort of somewhat hitting on my DEO agents." Alex said out loud as she processed everything. "A-and, God, please tell me you didn't do anything with my sister? How long do we have to wait out the effects?"

"Based on Superman's past exposures and applying it to Supergirl, I'd say eight to twelve hours, the periwinkle's effects last shorter than the pink so its effects should dissipate faster. When were they exposed?" Kate replied. "And no. Kara didn't try to do anything either, which makes it rather interesting, really. She could have flirted with me or my receptionist but she didn't."

"Interesting why?" Alex then asked. "And sometime this morning, about a good five to six hours ago."

"We know pink kryptonite makes straight Kryptonians gay. We don't know what it does to…" Kate started to say before being interrupted by Maggie who walked out of the study, followed by Dick and Barbara.

"We found James, and they…" Maggie said, unsure about how to go about things.

They really need to trust each other soon and lay it all out there.

If only Batman wasn't all 'if they don't need to know, they don't need to know'.

"We've got business to take care of." Dick said, picking up what Maggie was trying to say, excusing himself and Barbara before they headed out.

The two were gone before Maggie turned to say. "We should probably go too."

"No, she knows what it is. Besides, if James wants to hide…" Alex said with a shrug.

"Oh you do, don't you?" Maggie then asked, turning to face Kate and Kate simply shrugged.

Alex cleared her throat a little still wrapping her head around what Kate had been saying. "How sure are we that Supergirl wasn't affected by the pink one? Or that the effects will wear off around the same time as Superman's?"

"I'm judging it based on her physique – height, weight, and all – there seems to be a correlation with it based on Superman's past exposures. I'm making rough estimates, of course, and considering Superman weighs more and is taller, his should take longer." Kate said with a shrug. Alex quirked an eyebrow at her and Kate chuckled. "I was discharged from West Point because of my sexuality, Agent Danvers, it doesn't have anything to do with my academic performance, which if you check, I'm sure you'll find is actually quite impressive. Now, if you say the exposure was five to six hours ago," she went on, checking the time on her watch to see that it was four in the afternoon, "then the effects should subside by midnight at latest."

Alex nodded. "And, you're sure that Supergirl… she's not… but that would, that would mean… Are you sure it doesn't affect males differently from females?" Alex then struggled to say

Kate shrugged yet again. "It could be just that, but we've never really seen a difference in how the same kryptonite affects Kryptonian's before. Besides –" she went on but once again the conversation was interrupted by a rather flustered Lena Luthor stomping into her home.

_Oh, this ought to be good._

* * *

 

Lena looked up feeling a little lost as to why a Detective Sawyer and an Agent Danvers were in Kate's living room. She opened her mouth, and kept it shut, not entirely sure what to say.

For one thing seeing Kara's supposed sister in Kate's apartment surely spelled trouble. She would ask but she was still having difficulty stringing sentences with Lena not entirely sure how to articulate what it was getting her so worked up. It was, after all, very hard to concentrate on anything when all she could think about was that barely an hour ago Kara Danvers had… she almost…

 _Get yourself together, Lena!_ she chastised herself just as she realized she was losing herself over the thoughts of what almost happened.

"How did you get in? I know I have guests that just left but I programmed my door to automatically lock when it's closed." Kate then said.

Lena took a deep breath "Detective Sawyer." she answered simply. "She gave me a copy of your spare key when you left for Gotham. Never did get the chance to use it until now since we've recently established that even when you're halfway through dying, you still answer your door."

"I wasn't dying." Kate explained just as Maggie quirked an eyebrow at her. Kara's sister, Alex then looked over at Maggie mouthing something along the lines of 'still need to explain why she had a spare key in the first place' but Lena chose to ignore that comment.

She wasn't here to intervene with other people's business.

Kate took a deep breath. "I've helped you two already, if you wouldn't mind…" she then said addressing her two guests before nodding over to where Lena stood.

Alex took a deep breath before eyeing both her and Kate suspiciously. "She's right, we should go." she said to Maggie and the two had agreed to leave.

Once the doors were shut close found herself able to release the breath she was holding making her way to Kate's decanter to get herself a drink.

"I really ought to change the locks." she heard Kate saying just as she took a sip of what she assumed would be scotch.

Except it wasn't.

"Tea? You have tea in a decanter?" Lena asked, sighing in disappointment.

"It's the closest thing I can have that looks like scotch." Kate explained, turning around from where she sat to face her. Lena didn't have to think hard about what she meant, she did, after all, had a reputation to live up to as Kate Kane. "Okay, what's wrong? Lena, I've seen you mad. I've seen you greatly disappointed and broken-hearted, and yes I'm pertaining to that hopelessness you felt when you realized you'll never be able to reach through Lex. But I've never seen you this flustered or shaken about something. Ever. What's going on?"

"I…" Lena started to say before taking another deep breath as she made her way to Kate but even as she sat down next to her friend, no words would come out. She was utterly completely lost in that moment. Kate stood up and went over to her kitchen grabbing something under the sink before returning to the living room with a glass and a bottle of scotch.

"It's the good kind. I think you need it." she said, pouring Lena a drink in the glass but before she could even hand it to her, Lena had grabbed the bottle itself.

Kate managed to swipe the bottle back before Lena could even take a swig. "Okay, I'm concerned." she said, shoving the glass with the small amount of liquor into Lena's hands. "What's going on?" Kate had repeated.

"Kara came to visit today." Lena managed to say after taking a sip of her drink. It steadied her nerves a little despite not being able to fully quite down the beating of her heart.

"She visited me too. Asked for a quote after my step-mom expressed her desires of possibly collaborating with L-Corp on a few projects. She said she would come to…" Kate started to explain after Lena found herself silent again – she was still really trying to process everything that nearly happened.

She _liked_ Kara Danvers. Quite possibly even more than like.

She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had feelings for the girl.

But it never really occurred to her, despite the silent wishing and hoping, that Kara might actually feel the same way too.

"Did she…" Kate then tried to say something only stopping mid-sentence. Her eyes looked away from Lena briefly, and Lena could see that her friend was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "She didn't kiss you or anything, did she?"

"I-well… She didn't exactly, just almost." Lena replied sounding a little breathless, once again transfixed by the memory of the moment that passed too quickly.

Kate nodded slowly. "Interesting indeed. I'm impressed she didn't." she muttered as she leaned back on the couch. "You really must be smitten by her." she then added, her voice sounding softer. "Lena, I've seen you chase after girls, dive headlong into a quick but passionate relationship that you let fizzle out and not blink an eye for regret or remorse. But then again, I know you've never really taken any of them seriously, so no surprise there. Bottom line, I've never seen you like this, you look so vulnerable and shaken for _almost_ being kissed by a girl you like."

"Well, gee, I'm sorry if I rarely had the time to enjoy a relationship and let it grow. Barely anyone I've been with wanted me because I'm Lena, they only wanted to be with a Luthor. And I… can you blame me if for a moment I just didn't want to be alone?" Lena answered truthfully, reflecting on past relationships she never really bothered holding down.

"No." Kate replied with a melancholic tone. "But Kara Danvers is different, isn't she? You've never really fallen in love, not until now."

"I- I wouldn't go and jump the gun and say…" Lena replied, trying to cover up a simple truth that she knew her heart couldn't even deny. Just talking about it made her insides flutter about relentlessly.

Kate smiled knowingly. "Well whatever it is, you really care about her." she said with a sigh. "Listen, Lena, I feel like you should know. Kara was exposed to two types of kryptonite this morning, a new batch recently recovered from Cadmus. A periwinkle one that removes inhibition and a pink one that, believe it or not, makes Kryptonians gay."

"Oh." Lena replied, sounding rather disappointed. Surely it explained Kara's recent rash behavior. It also explained why Agent Danvers and Detective Sawyer were in her apartment.

But Lena couldn't help but wonder that there was a missing piece to all of it.

And Kate provided her the explanation she needed. "I don't think she was affected by the pink one though. Superman's already flirting his way through all the male DEO agents, Kara most definitely _isn't_ doing that. I'm telling you because I think you deserve to know and because I honestly think you ought to talk to her about it." Kate said. "I know how you look at her Lena, like she has all of the light of the world in her eyes. But I've also seen the way she looks at you, how she blushes at the mention of your name, and how she gets flustered at the mention or thought about you having a _relationship_ with other people. The two of you are friends, but there's something more, and I personally think that you, more than anyone in this world, deserve to find happiness. If anything, Kara is the one person I'd actually trust you with, and you know I tend to get protective over the people that matter to me." she continued, her voice laced with sincerity and a kind of love that Lena had always known of Kate.

She wasn't always there, no, but she did care.

And really, Lena knew it was useless to hide her feelings from Kate of all people but she couldn't help but try.

She could already tell what Kate was trying to get at.

"But the thing is, it doesn't matter." Lena found herself saying. It was like breaking her own heart now before anything else could happen. Before they could even move any further. Kara's exposure may have put a dent on those plans but Lena knew that her feelings for Kara were something she could never acknowledge. Not when she's in the middle of a bigger conspiracy.

Not when being her meant that the person she… that _Kara_ would be put in harm's way.

Isn't it the reason why she wanted to stop Cadmus? More than just stopping her brother and mother for good, she would do anything in her power to keep them away from Kara.

From someone she never intended to... to...  _care_ for in such a way that she does and in such a short time too.

And she would sacrifice anything to keep Kara safe, and if it came down to it, even their friendship if it meant she could stop Cadmus from the inside. It was the one clear thing she could do to try and atone for her family's crimes.

So to be given any semblance of a chance to be with literal miss sunshine Kara Danvers, it was never a part of the options Lena had thought of taking.

But Kate doesn't seem to agree.

"It _does_ matter." Kate then said resolutely. "But you know you have to tell her, Cadmus, everything. I'm not saying you're the only one who needs to open up either. But the thing is, Lena…"

"It doesn't matter." Lena said with a sad smile. "It _can't_ matter." she then added almost desperately. Her friendship with Kara is all that could ever be. Nothing more. If she pursues anything else, Lena knew that she would complicate matters that _are_ already complicated.

She can't be with her, but she can't let her go either.

So she'll keep her at that safe distance of being friends.

"Kate, I'm here because I don't know what to do. She's cracking through my surface and I… she nearly kisses me and my knees go weak. Can you imagine just what would happen if she actually does? Besides, a Luthor and a Super? I don't think the world would be so willing to accept that."

Kate smiled and looked at her sympathetically. "It'll only become worse if you try to bottle it up." she said knowingly. "Come on Lena, when did you ever willingly accept what the world has to say? Cadmus is there and we'll deal with them. We'll deal with all the threats best we could. Life is too short not to take the risks and the chances."

Lena sighed, setting her drink down on the coffee table. "You really think it's not the pink rock talking?" she found herself asking, sounding defeated.

Because if Kara Danvers would choose to kiss her, she would really rather not it be because of a shiny pink rock that made her magically attracted to Lena.

Kate chuckled. "I'm pretty sure, although I won't go seeing her before midnight. Besides, she was also under the influence of the periwinkle one – hence why she probably couldn't help herself and tried – but if she didn't kiss you then that meant that she stopped herself. She was subconsciously fighting its effects. I think that's just further proof of how much she cares about you. I've never really seen a Kryptonian with such a strong will."

Lena nodded thoughtfully. She could go see Kara tomorrow, perhaps visit her at Catco, just to make sure that things were fine between the two of them.

But what does she even say? How does she even go about talking about it?

How would Kara even react in the first place?

She settled down, leaning over to Kate, and rested her head on her shoulders. Lena was just really thankful that this time around, this particular time that she needed her, Kate was actually here.

* * *

 

Kara found herself in her apartment for the most part of the day, not really sure what to do. She opted to go back to Catco after the whole incident with Lena, proceeded to lock herself up in her office, used her superspeed to write the article, clumsily handed it to Snapper Carr, and then excused herself for the rest of the day from Snapper and Cat Grant – to whom she had said she managed to get the quote form Kate but that she was feeling a little sick so she really needed to go – and left.

She felt like she was overheating really, like her brain was short-circuiting. Her heart hasn't stopped pounding loudly and it's all that she could hear. Kara could feel her face flushing the whole time, even now as she buried her face in a pillow, sitting on her couch with her knees brought up to her chest because _Oh Rao, you almost kissed Lena Luthor what are you even thinking Kara?!?_

Really, she was so worked up she couldn't even finish her pizza dinner and that was a strong indication that something was wrong, because Kara knew that food and herself, they always mixed.

No matter what.

Kara almost jolted when she heard her door open and in came Alex looking at her with a mixture of uncertainty and concern.

"Alex! I-I… um… so, what's up?" she struggled to say before she decided on settling to try acting cool.

Which was probably a bad idea because she was nowhere near 'cool'.

Alex just gave her a weird look, trying to figure out what was going on in her head before she sighed. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay? Did _something_ happen at Catco?" she asked, before settling down next to her on the couch. Kara could tell by the tone of her sister's voice that she was fishing for information, as if she knew something.

Kara took a deep breath and tried to keep herself composed the best she could. Somehow she could better understand what her sister was going through that day by the baywalk and she kept beating around the bush of what she wanted to say.

But, no… she… did she have…?

_No, it's probably the kryptonite talking, Kara. And it could be that Alex knows it._

"N-no. Nothing at work." Kara replied, managing to relax a little bit.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked, her voice filled with concern and somehow Kara felt like she gave the wrong answer.

"Why are you asking?" Kara asked a bit suspicious of what Alex could possibly know.

Alex took a deep breath, biting her lip right after before trying to gather herself. "W-well, we figured out what, you know, the kryptonite did. Both of them." Alex started as she smiled at Kara weakly.

"Okay." Kara replied still uncertain why Alex looked more confused than concerned although she could tell Alex was still most definitely concerned. "Well, what is it?"

Alex cleared her throat. "Apparently, periwinkle kryptonite removed your inhibitions. The pink one makes y-you… um… it makes you gay."

"Oh." Kara replied trying to process everything that's happened before hiding her face in her hands, blushing once again at the memory of almost kissing Lena.

Kara swears the whole flashback gets worse and worse for her, as if she was trying to impose her _feelings_ on Lena.

"Oh?" Alex replied. "Kara, please tell me you didn't flirt your way through every single employee of Catco or something to that effect."

Kara started to shake her head in response, looking away from Alex. "N-no. I didn't I just…" Kara started to say before taking a deep breath and blowing it slowly out through her mouth. "But…" she continued, her heart ready to jump out of her ribcage as she processed what she had almost done because of the colored rocks from her home planet, "but I almost k-kissed Lena."

"Lena?" Alex asked, trying to keep her voice down.

"Yes. Lena." Kara said, her voice getting weaker.

"As in Luthor?" Alex asked for clarification, restating her earlier question.

"How many people named Lena do you personally know? Yes, Lena Luthor. Rao, Alex! I messed up!" she then exclaimed. "How long will I be under the effects? How do I reverse them?" she asked almost desperately.

Alex took a deep breath yet again. "The effects would pass over time. To be safe, until midnight. Maggie and I, we looked for answers and found them with Kate and James who's currently hiding at the basement of his apartment building of all places. Apparently this happened before with your cousin. Did you try to kiss anyone else?"

"No, why?" Kara then asked and the worried look in Alex's eyes grew, despite the understanding buried beneath all of it.

Alex reached for Kara's hands and gave it a squeeze. "I… well, Kara… the pink one turns _straight_ Kryptonians gay."

"You already said that Alex." Kara pointed out.

"Hence why your cousin is flirting with - and I can't stress this enough - every single DEO agent we have in the base. He also tried to feel up Winn and kiss Mon-El, when I came back. Also, when I tried out the vaccine that Red Robin guy dropped off yesterday to J'onn your cousin decided to swing by and I'm pretty sure I'm scarred for life when I overheard Superman call him foxy." Alex said, the expression on her face – a mix of confusion, amusement, and general disbelief – pretty much drove the point home. "That's how the pink kryptonite was supposed to affect you. You were supposed to be chasing after every good looking girl you encounter and, by no means do I admit _anything_ to you, you ran into Kate Kane, and Cat Grant at work but nothing happened. You sure nothing happened?" Alex asked again and Kara nodded, "But you _almost_ kissed Lena Luthor."

"Alex, what are you trying to say?" Kara asked, although truthfully, the way she's been feeling should tell her something already.

"Popular opinion is that pink kryptonite doesn't affect Kryptonians who already likes the same sex." Alex said, delivering the news that should be obvious to her by now.

"Alex, I'm not gay." Kara said, repeating the very same words that she had told Winn not long ago as rapidly as she could.

"I'm not saying you necessarily are. I know you liked James too, and you've had guy crushes in the past. I'm just saying maybe you like both? There is such a thing as being bisexual, for example."

"I…" Kara started to say but no words would come out. She didn't know, she wasn't sure. She wanted to tell Alex that she was wrong.

But one quick flash of Lena in her mind and her heart kept whispering that it wouldn't be true if she denied it.

Alex sported a supportive smile, giving Kara's hands another squeeze. "Give it a thought." she whispered. "Kara, I've seen you around Lena, I've seen how you act around her, or how you get flustered when I tease you about Lena. And see, it doesn't matter who you like, guy or girl, I'd be hypocrite if I say it did. Really, I'm more concerned about the 'Luthor' aspect of this…"

"Lena's not…" Kara said, immediately defending Lena like a reflex.

"See what I mean, I'm not even insinuating she's bad. I'm just trying to point out her family is." Alex said, giving Kara a knowing look. "Kara, in the end this is your decision and you can't pretend almost kissing Lena never happened. It did. And if you care about your friendship with her, one way or another you're going to have to acknowledge that. Just maybe, wait until past midnight. You might find that you actually have feelings for her but if your inhibitions are still all down…"

Kara simply nodded back, trying to digest what Alex was saying. She had guilt in her eyes and Alex instantly picked up on it, pulling her into a hug. "You're not taking something away from me, Kara, if you actually feel something for her. She just better not hurt you or she'll have me to contend with." she mumbled as she pressed a kiss on Kara's cheeks.

And Kara just let Alex hold her for a while. Her mind still a jumbled mess.

Somehow the clarity she sought was now making her feel terrified.

Because what if it was the truth? What if she really did have feelings for Lena Luthor?

What then?

Because that was a scenario she's never thought of happening and her life was already complicated without throwing dating a Luthor into the loop.

* * *

 

Alex pulled herself up the bar stool next to Maggie. Her detective – she's not really sure what they are, considering they had all but one date, but maybe girlfriend? – was ready to order her a drink.

And a drink is what she definitely needed.

"You okay, Danvers?" Maggie asked with a comforting smile.

"Yeah, I… I just think I'm actually right."

"About what?" Maggie asked curiously. Alex very much wanted to talk to her about Kara, and what her sister's going through for sure. Maggie was her rock in figuring herself out and Alex is currently still in progress of that. She wanted to be able to help Kara for sure, but to explain what's happening, she would need to tell Maggie her secret.

And she did. She wanted to. She wanted to be honest with her. And while Alex was very protective of Kara and her secret, she felt she could trust Maggie with it. Her instincts told her so.

But it wasn't her secret to tell. Which meant if she wanted to tell her, she had to get Kara to approve first.

Alex sighed. "Just… I think… I don't really know how to go about this, but I think my sister likes Lena Luthor." she still tried to explain.

"No kidding." Maggie said, almost with a whistle but before they could even go over it even more Winn came stumbling in, pulling a chair for himself next to Alex and slumping down on the bar counter, head in his hands looking like he's seen the truth of the universe or something.

"Are _you_ okay?" Maggie then asked. "Winn Schott, right?" she continued, waiving at the bartender for another drink.

"Yes, and I don't know."

"What happened?" Alex asked.

"Well," Winn started to say, " _Superman"_ he whispered, "almost got me pinned against a wall and kissed me before he blinked a few times and set me down."

"How is he?" Alex asked not quite sure how to go about it. Winn looked pretty traumatized about it, she could only imagine how Clark must feel at the moment. "Good to know the effects have passed though." she went on, typing a quick message to Kara for updates.

"Uh, dealing with things best he could. I told him to call James, figured they needed to talk." Winn replied. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about… well…"

"What?" Alex asked, curious as Winn's eyes widened with the look of realization.

"It's just. Is it so bad that I was a little disappointed that he didn't kiss me?" Winn then asked. "I… well… I think I might have a crush on him."

Maggie then chuckled at Winn's admission and Alex couldn't help but smile at the thought of it.

It kind of made sense really, what with how much he essentially fanboy on the next level when Superman was around.

"I knew you surrounded yourself with colorful people, Danvers, but I didn't know it would be this colorful." Maggie commented with a smirk.

"Neither did I." Alex admitted with a chuckle as she patted Winn on the back.

"Welcome to the club, Schott." Maggie threw in just in time for Winn's drinks to be brought to him. Maggie raised her glass, Alex doing the same thing.

"If the members are anything like the two of you, then I'm glad to be a part of it." Winn then said with a meek smile, raising his glass along.

* * *

 

With all the exciting events of the day, Lena decided to head home early. Of course she ended up taking her work with her, it couldn't be helped, but she wanted to be alone for now.

She wanted the space to think and breathe and maybe lose herself in her work without any distractions.

So really, it wasn't much of a surprise when she realized she hasn't eaten anything for dinner until it was nearly midnight. Lena decided she deserved a break and made herself a simple dinner before changing into something more comfortable. She settled down in her living room with her plate and an old movie she had loved from when she was younger. She used to watch it with Lex, a black SciFi comedy that her brother wasn't particularly fond of but she loved it and so he would sit and watch it with her.

But those were the days.

And as the night progressed and Lena was finished with her food, she leaned back on her couch, sipped on a glass of wine, and tried to relax and enjoy. But her mind wouldn't let her relax.

The thought of Kara leaning in, her lips almost brushing against Lena's was too much for her. She's never felt vulnerable to anyone before, she's never felt someone have any power over her. But something about Kara Danvers made it hard for her to resist the pull.

She wasn't expecting it, to fall in love with Supergirl of all people. It's not like she was ready to hate her either, her dislike of Superman was just about him and his brother, and what happened between them. Clark Kent's judging looks at all Luthors for simply being a Luthor didn't help either. Although the reporter starting to give her a chance was easing the situation a little, Lena was still a little on edge with that.

But Kara Danvers… Supergirl or not, Lena couldn't help but feel the way she did for her.

She was sweet, soft, caring, and kind. But she was fierce too and she had a different kind of steel beneath her pastel colored wardrobe. She was passionate and wise, but she wasn't afraid of admitting when she was wrong.

Kara would look at her not with judgement but genuine happiness and warmth. Something she rarely received from people around her.

And Kara… she was just so _Kara_ …

She was so easy to fall in love with, just how could she not?

Lena saw the name on the files and her potential interest grew at meeting the person who could possibly be the civilian identity for Supergirl although she started her superhero career late into the game so nothing much was written about her other than Lex being interested in the fact that she was adopted by the Danvers, a couple who Superman had worked with, and had remained close with as Clark Kent despite not being related.

Lex was unsure.

But Lena, she was the one who saw definitive proof.

And yet…

Being a Super had nothing to do with anything in the end.

Lena wanted to stay out of it, the drama, and the conspiracy. She was Switzerland in this, neutral, just in it for her best interest. She just wanted to focus on the company, but then she started falling for Kara 'actual ray of sunshine' Danvers and now she's right in the middle of all of it. Vulnerable and raw and willing to get hurt.

She doesn't even know what her real name could be. She has heard rumors, seen it in Lex's notes, that Superman had once been called Kal-El.

Lena chuckled to herself, she was starting to think Kate had a point.

Her feelings were something she could never run away from or bottle up.

Lena heard a buzz from her intercom, the head of security in her building saying something along the lines of Lena having a visitor. Blonde, a little clumsy. Says that her name was something like Kiera Danvers, the guard wasn't sure because she was mumbling a lot.

Lena felt herself become nervous, getting all worked up that Kara would come and see her an hour past midnight. But more than that, what could she possibly want?

Knowing Kara, she was probably feeling a little guilty about what had happened earlier, and with what Kate had said, Supergirl probably waited out for the effects of the kryptonite exposed to her to pass.

She had allowed for Kara to come up. Lena found herself pacing her penthouse apartment, the movie playing in the background, as she waited for Kara's arrival. A small hallway had separated the elevator from the front door, allowing for some privacy and additional security.

Lena took a deep breath to calm herself as she heard Kara's tentative knocks, and when she opened the door she saw the meek reporter smiling shyly at her.

"H-hey Lena." Kara started to say and Lena smiled, noticing how nervous Kara was being. She stepped aside and tilted her head towards the direction of her living room to let Kara in. She wasn't really sure what to say so Lena figured to let Kara have the floor to speak first.

"Uh, thanks… wow Lena, your place is amazing. Oh, watching a movie?" Kara then said as she stepped inside and Lena couldn't help but laugh a little because of course that's the first thing that would be out of Kara's mouth.

"Yes, I'm taking your advice and relaxing every now and then." Lena said, finally managing to find her words again. Kara acting so much like _Kara_ made her relax a little.

"Right." Kara then said. "Is it any good?" Kara asked as Lena made her way back to the living room. She sat down on the couch and patted the space right next to her. Kara looked a little uncertain at first but made her way towards where Lena was and sat down, leaving a good few inches, and maybe a throw pillow, in between them.

"I like it." was Lena's reply. "But then again I love science fiction."

"What's it called?" Kara asked, genuinely curious.

" _Dark Star_. Plot basically revolves around this crew on a scout ship that destroys unstable planets." Lena explained and Kara made a face. "Not a fan?"

"Just the 'destroying planets' bit always gets at me." Kara answered truthfully and Lena couldn't help remember how she practically winced when she saw Alderaan blown up during their _Star Wars_ marathon.

Lena made a mental note about it as she found herself making a hypothesis that Kara's planet probably experienced a similar fate and that's why she was here.

If it were true, then Lena couldn't help but be more amazed at how Kara was so strong and loving and kind, at how her tragedies didn't define her. She would be at awe of Kara's resilience, of carrying on despite her world literally crumbling before her.

And Lena found that she couldn't help but fall even more.

Kara was there being Supergirl, there on earth to save the world like some goddess that fell from the sky. And yet, despite all the strength and power she shows off, she was still a fragile soul who would have lost her home. Her everything.

With very few people willing to save her.

"Would you mind if I asked why?" Lena asked as Kara basically kept fidgeting in her seat.

"Am I here so late? I… well I couldn't sleep. I just… Lena, I wanted to apologize for whatever it was earlier. I really don't have any justifiable reason for crossing personal boundaries like that." Kara went on to explain, adjusting and readjusting her glasses quite a few times as Kara kept her eyes glued to the TV screen if not straying to Lena's movie library to the side of her television set but never at Lena. "I really am sorry for acting the way I did or if I made you uncomfortable or anything."

Lena reached out and grabbed Kara's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. She couldn't help but let out a short laughter as well. She had meant on asking Kara about her dislike of the 'destroying planets' bit, of potentially probing her of what had happened to her. She knew her planet was Krypton but she was still in the dark about how she and Superman got here.

Somehow that was an information Lex didn't have in his files. And if he did know, it would seem her brother would rather keep it a secret.

Even Superman rarely acknowledged what had happened to his planet in all of his Lois Lane exclusives for _The Planet._

But with how Kara was acting, Lena could tell she was being more nervous than usual. While a part of Lena strongly wanted to know just why Kara nearly kissed her, if only to confirm Kate's suspicions and her own, she didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

"Kara, I meant about the movie plot." Lena then said and Kara let out a light 'oh', her eyes now looking at Lena's hands, still not at her though.

Lena wanted Kara to look at her, make sure everything was alright. At the end of the day, that was most important for her. If, by some chance, she had feelings for her, well, they would cross that road when they're ready. But if not, then Lena didn't want Kara to feel ashamed or weird. They were still friends and Lena would swallow her feelings deep down and never show it.

It would be her share of burden to bear.

Lena grabbed Kara's hand with both of hers this time and took it. She shifted a little to face the reporter, looking intently at Kara as she gave Kara's hand a squeeze. "Kara, look at me." Lena said but Kara simply made an attempt to speak, keeping her eyes away. Lena took a deep breath, and with one hand gently brushed her hands across Kara's cheeks, tilting her head to face her. "Look at me." she said with a bit more command in her tone and Kara did. Lena smiled and relaxed a bit more as she did. "You're forgiven."

Kara nodded slowly and Lena knew that her message was well received.

But Kara's breathing didn't calm down, and the look in her eyes – the eyes that held the secrets of galaxies and stars that Lena just couldn't help but get lost in – said it all.

It was like a dam had been opened and they couldn't stop the water rushing out at such an intensity and if they tried, Lena knew, it would be impossible to hold it back anymore.

Kara took one shaky breath and it was like Lena understood, it wasn't the rock talking earlier.

It was real.

And she could see how terrified Kara was.

Because Lena understood so well how terrified she was at feeling that helpless to the feelings that apparently was overcoming them both.

And before Lena could even say anything, brush away the worries and fears aside, reassure Kara of anything, Kara was leaning in.

This time she didn't stop.

This time Lena felt Kara's lips brush gently against hers, her hands on Kara's cheeks slipping down to her neck, holding her in place as their lips moved against each other's.

A kiss so innocent, simple, and sweet.

And yet it felt like it moved mountains.

It sent shivers down Lena's spine. It was rocking her to her very core.

For the first moment in her life she felt alive, truly alive.

She felt Kara taking her every breath away as she pulled away, a look of realization dawning upon her before mumbling her apologies yet again and stumbling out of Lena's apartment in a blink of an eye.

And Lena? All she could do was let the feeling sink in. Let the look she saw in Kara's eyes, the feel of Kara's trembling hands that had moments earlier gently cup her face, sink in.

Because all she saw, all she felt, despite Kara running away – perhaps overwhelmed by what had happened – was that Kara Danvers felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: Just to get it all cleared out, pink K didn't affect Kara in this chapter, only Clark got hit by both. Kara was affected by the periwinkle K and so her inhibitions to not do what she wanted to do regarding Lena wasn't stopping her and she just went for it. I may have taken liberties with some of the effects and durations and all.
> 
> UPNEXT: Well, who doesn't love an awkward party after an awkward first kiss? Plus some more plot development with Cadmus…


	13. A Little Bit of Waltzing is Always Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because parties are always fun ;) Here is chapter 13 featuring a Wayne Foundation party, the brief appearance of an old abandoned potential love interest, some waltzing, and Alex stumbling upon a few secrets of her own.
> 
> Also, thank you so much for all the kind words and support you've given me with this fic! You're comments always put a smile on my face and motivates me to always give it my all with the chapters. So seriously, thanks guys! :D
> 
> Happy New Year!

Lena took a sip of the champagne as she took in the sight at the plaza of Wayne Medical's branch at National City. They were in an impressive half-open hall decked with balconies similar to L-Corp's own main plaza, but had three to four good floors, all equipped and decorated for the party. The stage was grand but the set-up minimalistic, undoubtedly because of Dick Grayson's own requests of trying not to make a spectacle of himself when he greets the guests. Lena still wasn't sure why Bruce Wayne had sent his adopted son of all his people - Lucius Fox, for example, knew better how to host a memorable party - but she simply chucked it up to the fact that, if Lex's files were correct, he was suspected to be a vigilante himself and having him around would be handy.

He was Nightwing.

Which of course meant that Lena owed him her thanks for his help many nights ago with Deathstroke at the very least.

Dick Grayson was currently on stage, talking about the Wayne Foundation's current efforts with their orphanages and outreach programs, when Lena once again scanned the hall. "Penny for your thoughts?" she heard Kate ask her as she approached and Lena all but snorted.

"You won't let me live down the last three day, won't you?" Lena then asked as she turned to face her friend. Kate smirked back at her, dressed in a rather stunning suit. It's not like she's never done it before either, she's gone back and forth with the revealing jaw-dropping evening gowns and expensive designer suits, although Lena did note that the amount of unhealed scar tissues and the bruises that littered her friend's body, all accumulated over the past few years, may have been the reason why she decided to go for the suit more and more lately. In reality, Kate simply won't tell her.

Or for that matter, why she didn't find a date for the charity ball. Instead, Kate had told her a few days ago that the two of them might as well fly solo together, throwing a rather mischievous wink in Lena's direction.

"Considering seeing you rather worked up and quite possibly panicking over a kiss was something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime, no, I will not." Kate replied rather amused as she turned to Lena with a teasing smile. Lena shook her head,turning to focus on what Dick was saying – something about how this event was all for honoring Martha Wayne's philanthropic ideals and of course her memory – despite the fact that her mind was elsewhere.

Since the party started, her eyes had kept scanning the hall for a particular fumbling and at times clumsy blonde reporter who had been ignoring her calls and messages for the good of the last three days. Lena really wasn't sure what to do. Immediately after Kara left, she was left stunned. Completely so that she had just stayed curled up in her couch the whole night through, falling asleep at some point, not really sure what to make of it.

On one point, Kara may still be under the effects of the kryptonite exposed to her, that was what Lena kept telling herself just as to not build her hopes up. Perhaps the reason that Kara still hasn't reached out may be because she wasn't sure how to explain her behavior, realizing that she had made a mistake.

She was a Luthor. And yes Kara was a Super, even though Lena wasn't supposed to know that, but Kara did. Other than the fact that they were friends, Kara was blurring way too many lines that she didn't intend to blur.

On another point, Kara may have been taken by surprise by her actions. She can't use the kryptonite exposure as a crutch to justify her actions, at least to herself, and perhaps Kara had feelings for her. But if she did, why was she adamantly still avoiding Lena? She was still absent from the event that was undoubtedly being covered by Catco, Cat Grant even present for the night's festivities. For God's sake, they even have Lana Lang in attendance as _The Planet_ ' _s_ representative because apparently Clark Kent and Lois Lane, the obvious choices, had other more important assignments. Kate seemed to think that Clark's probably trying to reconcile the things he did when under the influence of both the pink and periwinkle kryptonite with himself.

"Maybe she's having a bit of a panic attack?" Kate had offered as a solution the other day when she came to visit Lena. As much as Lena hated to admit it, she had been a mess after that incident.

Although 'mess' might have been an understatement considering Kate had to talk her down from all her plans. Plans that involved sending flowers – which Kate shut down because she wasn't exactly in the process of wooing Kara, rationalizing that Kara may very well be trying to figure out her own feelings – to simply marching over to Kara's office or her apartment, hell even the DEO base of operations if needed be, to get her to talk to her – to which Kate said may not be a bad idea but perhaps giving Kara the space and time to actually clear her head would be for the best, although she added as an afterthought that storming the DEO base might be amusing. Either way, Lena wasn't really thinking properly. She sent three text messages and had two missed calls to try and reach out to Kara to talk when she's ready.

Because after all, regardless of Kara's own feelings, Lena truly did value their friendship. And though some of her 'bright ideas' about reaching out may have been brash or thoughtless, she just really wanted to reassure Kara that everything would be alright between them.

And perhaps reassure herself of that too.

She was antsy, a bit on edge, because she knew that what had happened when Kara had kissed her was something they simply couldn't walk past around or forget about. If they had to acknowledge the fact that Kara almost kissed her in her office before that, then they definitely needed to talk about the kiss.

The kiss had changed things, for better or worse.

They had crossed the Rubicon.

But how could she even stay calm about it? She's never felt this way before, not for anyone, no. She really didn't have the best of examples either. Lionel Luthor had pampered both her and her mom with gifts, sometimes her more so than he did Lillian, all while having his own discreet affairs. Lillian Luthor was cold to anyone with a pulse other than Lex, and Lex who supposedly had cared for her? He cared for no one else. Point being, he's been married eight or nine times now, all his wives just trophies, pretty things to look at for him.

And Lena?

All her relationships were passing whims, they were ways she wanted to know herself and explore. If she wanted something, she took it without remorse, and if she ever bid her time it was mostly because she enjoyed the game.

Because she knew the sad truth. Everyone knew the Luthors, everyone wanted to be one, to be with one, to become one - at least before Lex's own mess. And Lena rarely cared for anyone because she knew she had to protect herself. She wasn't going to be the one left hurt or scarred or burned when the passion goes up into the flames and leaves nothing behind but ashes.

She was a Luthor. Her only concern was herself. That's how it always had been. And somehow the people she's been with knew that too. They didn't mind, they didn't care. They just wanted to be with a Luthor even for a second just to get a taste of what it meant.

But not with Kara.

No, Kara Danvers was something else. She's done something to Lena and for the first time she could feel her breath hitch at the sight of her, feel her heart beating loudly and feel the rhythm of her pulse when she hears her voice.

Kara would look at her and Lena knew that the only thing the girl could see was whatever good ever existed inside of her. Something she struggled to show, fight the whole world to prove that exists.

That unsettled Lena. She was never unsure, always confident in her ways, but more and more Kara was crumbling the surface and that facade along with it. She was reaching out to who she was deep down and Lena found herself constantly afraid that she might have done something to push Kara away with a finality.

Even though it was Kara who kissed her, regardless of what she had felt or what moved Kara to do it, Lena was scared she might have made things worse or perhaps did or didn't do something that would have eased the situation faster.

Three days and Lena was going insane missing Kara Danvers that she has no idea what to do or how to be.

It was so bad that Kate had to enter her penthouse that morning - every morning the last three days for that matter - on a mission of making sure she was up to the task of being Lena Luthor.

Lena kept her eyes on Dick Grayson, making his way down the stage as the festivities resumed. "Listen, Kate, did your friends ever figure out why the doctor is sticking around town?" she asked in a whisper, changing the topic.

"Not that I know of but they did pay _him_ a visit, finally managed to figure out his address." Kate replied. Lena hasn't seen Dr. Westfield for a while but he did promise that he'll keep in touch the coming days after he asked Lena for a sample of her blood and about a particular radioactive isotope her R and D department had been working to stabilize and contain.

"Does he suspect?" Lena asked, wanting to make sure that their mission wasn't compromised.

"Not that I know of." Kate replied keeping her voice low too. "My friends are working on something though. I'm interested in knowing what the doctor might have inadvertently _told_ them."

"I'd say you look as charming as ever Lena, but that won't do you justice. You look like a princess straight out of a fairytale." Lena then heard a rather familiar voice say before she could even probe what Kate had given as a response.

Kate had chuckled and shook her head, adopting her usual 'heiress socialite' demeanor – as Lena would call it – pretending that they weren't trying to discuss far more important matters other than lighthearted chatter. "Ted, I wasn't expecting you to be here." she had said as the two of them turned to find a charming man with brown hair and brown eyes.

Ted Kord smiled cordially, "I heard you were in town and once again hanging out with Lena Luthor. I wanted to see it for myself. After all, the two of you always knew how to have fun. It's been years since you both were in a party together, much less the same city."

"Aren't you supposed to be in some grand unveiling of a new tech in Chicago?" Lena then asked, shrugging off Ted's earlier comments.

Ted shrugged. "Like I said, I wanted to see old friends. I may have also been wrongly tipped off that Bruce Wayne would be here, I was hoping he and I could have a chat."

"Always business with you, huh Ted?" Lena then heard someone else say.

And right on cue, Maxwell Lord walked towards the group in one of those black suits he seemed to love so much. "I passed by my old building, can't say I love what you've done with the place." he then said as he turned to face Kate.

"Can't say you had any tastes." Kate retorted and even Lena couldn't chuckle.

"On the contrary, I do." Maxwell Lord replies, eyeing someone else from far away.

"Gotta give it to him, he does have tastes in women." Ted commented as soon as Max left their company headed towards two women who Lena unmistakably identified as Alex Danvers with Detective Sawyer.

 _Even_ her _sister's here._ Lena thought to herself before Kate simply chuckled.

"Yes, but he always goes for the ones he can't reach." Kate commented just as Lena started to scan the hall once more.

"Truthfully, I just can't believe we're having a party without anyone showing up with the intention to kill anyone else." Lena then said, her eyes landing on Cat Grant who was busy exchanging words with James Olsen and Lana Lang. Ted laughed a little saying something along the lines of her comment being too grim but Lena couldn't help it. Every party she's attended since moving to National City always ended up with Cadmus trying to pull something.

This time she knew they _weren't_ up to anything though and she took whatever comfort she could with that.

"I don't know Lena, I think you might've spoken too soon." Kate then said as she nodded towards the direction of Maxwell Lord talking to a rather annoyed looking Alex while Detective Sawyer has left her company to greet both Dick and Barbara.

Lena chuckled. "Ah, _that._ Well, at least we'll have some form of entertainment." Lena then commented as her eyes continued

And then she finally saw her.

Kara Danvers, dressed in blue – it really was her color – fidgeting nervously as she chatted with her friend. Lena swears she's seen him before but if she couldn't remember when and where then it was probably unimportant. "If you two would excuse me." Lena then said, her eyes never parting form where Kara stood, talking animatedly with her friend.

Kate smiled once she noticed where Lena was looking at, she opened her mouth to say something but Lena never did hear what it was.

Kara's very presence was drawing her near and that was all she could see, feel, and hear.

* * *

Dick was chatting with a few of the board members of Wayne Enterprise present for the ball when Maggie took her chance to excuse him. The poor man had always been charming and jovial but this was never really his forte.

Maggie took that as her chance with the intention of thanking him for the invite to the party.

"Why thank you for coming to his aid." Barbara said joining the two just as the board members left.

"Really, I should be the one thanking you two. Although, I have to admit, considering what's been happening in this city, I would have thought you would increase security a bit."

"Without Bruce attracting all the attention, I think we're just fine. Besides, we're due for a break with disrupted parties." Barbara said.

"That and the fact that _we_ are here and, we can contain things the best we can." Dick replied with a wink.

"Uh-huh." Maggie replied, quirking her eyebrows at her friends and trying to figure out what it was they were trying to keep between them.

Maggie wasn't blind, neither was she oblivious. While tracking down James Olsen a few days ago she noticed Barbara working trying to trace a location for someone else, someone named Paul Westfield, all while Dick was trying to distract Maggie with stories of times he visited Metropolis with Bruce and National City with the some of his friends from the Titans, particularly Kori.

She does appreciate the fact that she knew their secrets now too. Their years in Gotham together, chasing down rogues, celebrating parties and the occassional GCPD galas seemed so far away. And yet here they were, it was still on a need to know basis with everything. She knows it can't be helped, that if Maggie was working on a sensitive case that might put the people she loved and cared about at risk, she wouldn't exactly divulge everything she knew with them either.

But the detective part of her, the one curious to know and dig for the truth, wanted to figure it out.

And she would have, but Dick Grayson had found the perfect distraction for her, whether he was aware or it or not.

"Isn't that Maxwell Lord?" Dick asked all amused nodding towards his direction. "I thought he's decided to move back to New York, what's he doing here?"

"Hmm, oh from what I heard he's here to close up a few deals and wrap things up for his move. Some other business holdings and stuff." Barbara replied knowingly.

"Ah, so you've been busy digging." she hard Dick tease.

"Based on his history, I figured keeping an eye out on him would be for the best." Barbara replied.

Maggie kept tuned into their conversation the best she could but she would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit distracted. From where Maggie stood, it looked like he was 'pestering' Alex, placing his slimy hands on the small of her back as he leaned in whispering something in her ear as he tried to lead her to the dance floor.

Alex kept shaking her head, the look in her face enough to convince Maggie that she wasn't particularly thrilled of Maxwell Lord's presence near her.

Maggie knows, if Alex was done being polite, she can handle it on her own. However, that didn't make the urges to break every single finger on Maxwell Lord's unworthy hands go away for even daring to touch such a precious thing as her… _err_ …

_Girlfriend? Too soon._

_Girl she was dating would be more appropriate,_ Maggie thought, but that felt like it fell short.

Alex was special, and she truly was to Maggie. The DEO agent held her heart captive from the moment the two met at the crime scene at the airport tarmac, whether or not she wanted to admit it, and she has had it ever since.

And seeing the smooth talking rich slime ball even breathe the same air as Alex was breathing, especially with that look on his face that Maggie just _knows_ so well, it was making her blood boil to new heights.

"You look like you're trying to come up with ten different ways of hiding a body." Kate commented as she joined her, Dick, and Barbara. The 'not exactly dating because it's complicated but we really ought to be' couple exchanged looks and simply smiled all while Maggie grumbled in response.

"Kate's got a point Mags, you're close to breaking the stem of the champagne glass." Dick commented with a snort.

"Gee, I'm sorry. It's kind of difficult not to when you're thinking of ways to get Maxwell Lord over there away from Alex without sounding like a possessive jealous idiot."

"And you're not right now?" Barbara teased and Maggie simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.

" _Tch._ I just don't like the way he looks at her." Maggie replied.

"I mean, Agent Danvers _is_ quite beautiful." Dick then said before getting a look from Barbara.

"What he means is that you're a lucky woman." Barbara interjects, eyes still on Dick who simply shrugged.

"Well, if you would all humor me for a minute. The night is young, the place filled with full hearts." Kate said all while keeping her eyes on a smiling – and blushing? – Lena whose full attention was on the tall blonde she was talking to. Judging from the fact that the blonde, who had her back turned to Maggie, was rather uncoordinated and awkwardly motioning about as she seemed to have been talking, and that she was standing right next to Winn, she could only guess that it was Kara.

If the interaction was anything to go by, Maggie definitely thinks Alex had a point about what she said about her sister having a thing for Lena Luthor.

And if Kate's mischievous smile was anything to go by, Lena quite possibly has a thing for Kara too.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Kane?" Maggie asked and the grin on Kate's lips grew twice as big.

"A plan." she simply replied with the biggest grin she's ever seen on her face.

And honestly, that should have been enough of an indication to Maggie that Kate may or may not have been plotting something along the lines of what they were about to do even before the party began.

Dick and Barbara agreed to help before Dick leaned in close to Kate whispering something that Maggie wasn't able to catch as she made her way towards Lena Luthor of all people, Kara managing to save whatever was left of her dignity after nearly bumping into one of the servers, and nearly toppling the tray of champagne glasses he was carrying on Winn.

Lena looked a little lost as Kara hurriedly left, strongly pulling Winn along with her. She had breathed out a nervous sigh, a longing look in her eyes, and somehow Maggie could only understand what she was going through. She's never really known her personally, and all interactions they've ever had were curt introductions and short conversations. Most of what she's known of Lena came from other people.

Everyone she knew at the station, scratch that, pretty much everyone she knew in National City, somehow painted a picture of the woman in front of her as cold-hearted and intimidating. Very few people trusted her, most were simply giving her the benefit of the doubt because she was the CEO of a rather powerful company and it paid to have the right connections.

It was a stark contrast to how Kate had painted her. Strong-willed but soft and caring. A warm and good person with a light that the shadows cast down upon her by her family were trying to snuff. A huge nerd with an infectious laughter who believed that somewhere deep down there was good in everyone, including Kate when her life was on a meaningless path before Maggie had met her. Even in Lex, trying to desperately reach him even until the end.

She never really could figure out how it was possible to even picture Lena as anything remotely close to the woman Kate fondly told her she was until that moment.

She wasn't cold-hearted, no. She was just surrounded by the cold.

And someone just needed to thaw her heart.

Alex makes her soft, makes Maggie feel warm. Perhaps there really was something about the Danvers sisters and it would seem Little Sunny Danvers was just what Lena needed.

Just another motivation to go along with Kate's little plan.

Maggie took her eyes for a second to check on how Kate was doing. Right on cue, she spilled the contents of her glass on Maxwell Lord, not really staining much of his black suit but when Kate did what Kara had almost done, and 'accidentally' knocked over a tray one of the servers passing by was carrying about when he tried to help Maxwell clean up, it did the trick. She saw Alex try to hold back a chuckle as the CEO of Lord Technologies excused himself, Kate looking mighty proud of her handiwork.

Phase one of the plan was complete.

Phase two moved swiftly by. Just before Dick Grayson disappeared from the party with his redhead, Maggie saw him the approach the conductor of the orchestra they had hired for the event.

It didn't take long and Maggie could hear the beginning of a waltz.

Kate offered her hand to Alex right across the hall, with Alex simply eyeing her in suspicion. Maggie wondered what Kate had said – she'd have to ask Alex later – to convince her to accept her offer for a dance within a matter of a few seconds.

With that handled, Maggie didn't waste any time and approached Lena Luthor. Ted Kord was coming towards her direction at the very same moment, "Sorry Ms. Luthor, but would you mind if I have this dance with you?" Maggie asked just before Ted could say anything. The same look of suspicion that Alex had was clearly evident in her eyes.

Ted had laughed, "You can have this dance with her." he said in a good-humored tone.

"Well then, I guess I'm yours for the moment, Detective Sawyer." Lena replied, accepting Maggie's hand.

It took them a while to figure out who would take the lead – Lena had surprisingly let Maggie do the honors – before the two soon danced. "I'm glad you actually remember who I am." Maggie found herself commenting.

"I do. Took me a while to place a name to a face, but I do remember Kate introducing us at a party like this long ago." Lena replied. "Now speaking of Kate, would you please explain to me why on earth she's dancing with Agent Danvers and what the hell is she up to?" she then asked after the pleasantries out of the way.

"Oh, for me, she's just helping me get rid of Maxwell Lord. Anything else she's got in mind, I can't really say." Maggie then replied, barely sparing a glance at Lena as she scanned the hall.

Maggie took her eyes off from the CEO, who, she had to admit, was truly beautiful up close. She can't really blame Kara for getting tongue-tied near her.

And while Lena was quite pleasing to look at, Maggie had to be in her game. She does want to share a dance with Alex, after all, especially before Slime-y Lord gets back to ruin the moment.

But she can't let Lena go, not until she finds…

…and thankfully she does. James and Winn offered to dance with Kara before James had stepped aside and let Winn have the dance with the younger of the two Danvers sisters. She saw James cutting in whoever Lana Lang was dancing with before pairing up themselves on the dance floor.

Maggie caught Kate's eyes and nods towards the direction Kara and Winn were dancing, right across the hall. Somehow Kate had maneuvered herself and Alex closer to where Maggie and Lena were, finally letting Alex go as she paired her off with Maggie, Kate stepping in to dance with Lena.

The crease on Lena's forehead only deepened as Kate grinned at her while they danced. Whatever it was they could be talking about, it didn't matter anymore. She was finally back with Alex.

Alex smiled warmly at her as she placed her hands on her waist and took her hands. Maggie could swear they were even softer than the last time she's ever held it. Possibly even softer than Lena Luthor's, but that could just very well be Maggie.

She took the lead with the dance, beaming up at Alex as they moved about, the first piece of waltz music played coming to an end right before a second one immediately started playing. Technically, it wasn't their second official date, mostly because Alex kept insisting that it was her turn to take Maggie out for a night and Dick Grayson did send the invite to Maggie, so Alex was her plus one. Kara got an invite from Catco with a plus one, as Alex explained, hence why Winn was there, although Maggie couldn't help but think that it was Kate's insistence that she attend by all means possible, in whatever way she would feel most comfortable.

But second date or not – _let's stick with date number 1.5 –_ it was sure as hell romantic to take your girl out to a ball and get the chance to dance to a waltz or two.

Hence why Maggie couldn't stop beaming.

"Why do I have a feeling you and Kane are up to something?" Alex then asked with a lighthearted smile, her dislike of Kate being forgotten for a moment.

"I promised to help her out if she helped me get you away from Maxwell Lord." Maggie answered truthfully.

"Don't like him?" Alex asked amused.

"Something about him just really makes me wanna punch him." she admitted as a reply. "And well, Kate thought we can avoid a scandal – or a murder – for a night."

Alex chuckled just as Maggie pulled her closer. "Well, he did wine and dine me once, so that's your justification."

"You went out with him!" Maggie exclaimed trying to keep her voice down to a minimum before instinctively pulling Alex closer.

"It was more of a work thing. I don't trust him, so don't worry. Besides, I have my eyes on someone else." Alex replied.

"Oh, really? Mind telling me who, Danvers?" Maggie then asked.

"Oh, just this really beautiful woman with the softest brown eyes I've ever seen. I'm actually pleasantly surprised to know she's really good at dancing the waltz. Didn't know she was the jealous type either, but I think she's just the right amount of jealous, so I don't mind. She seems to be honest about it anyways." Alex commented, her nose doing that adorable wrinkle that Maggie just can't help but love.

"Sounds like she's quite the catch." Maggie replied with a warm smile, just before catching Maxwell Lord on his way back, watching them with a curious gaze.

 _Oh, he can suffer._ Maggie thought to herself as she pulled Alex close and kissed her lightly on her lips. Alex sighed, pulling Maggie right back just as she pulled away.

And Maggie couldn't help but smile. No she didn't get to see whatever look of defeat Maxwell Lord had on his face, that was something she would hear from Kate later on.

But the night had been perfect, and it couldn't go any better.

And right then, at that moment, nothing else mattered but her and Alex in the sea of people dancing in the hall.

* * *

Whatever possessed Kara to think it was a good idea to attend this gala, she was partially regretting it already.

But then again it wasn't like she could choose not to go. She got the invitation delivered to her at Catco right at the moment when Cat Grant walked past her office and the curiosity of getting the same invitation she received got her boss piqued.

Because of course Kate Kane would go to the gala, and Kate Kane was apparently some distant relative of the Waynes – she and Bruce were cousins or something based on what Cat explained – and it would seem that the redheaded heiress wanted her to be there, with an option to bring someone along to put her at ease.

And Cat jumped at this opportunity to have Kara be there, as she seemed to have been assigned the Kane beat since Kate liked her enough for interviews. And if Kate Kane was there, then Cat wanted to know who she was with, what were her interests in the Wayne Foundations current projects, all of it. She was also assigned the piece for the event by Snapper after that, so really, she didn't have the option not to go.

Kara had been dreading it really, not because of the party itself, but because she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Lena would be there. And if Lena would be there, she couldn't escape and pretend that she could freeze time, not try to address the fact that she didn't just _almost_ kiss Lena Luthor. She actually kissed her.

This time, no matter how many times Kara tried to argue to herself that it was residual effects of the kryptonite on her, she couldn't quite find herself to believe that she didn't kiss Lena out of her own volition.

Because she did.

And as soon as she realized it, Kara all but bolted up... up, up, and away.

It was stupid really. But the thought of it… well… she wasn't really sure how to feel about it.

Lena's lips on hers… it was _everything_...

She experienced _everything,_ all in one fleeting moment.

Butterflies fluttering, fireworks, stars and galaxies in her mind. The rushing of her blood, the beating of her heart. The sweet scent of Lena's perfume in the air.

She felt it, took note of it, and experienced it.

All of it and in great detail, happening all at once, like the strong force of water rapidly pouring down from the falls had hit her and all of a sudden she had found clarity.

And it frightened her to her core, to feel that strongly for someone, anyone. She's always known she felt connected to Lena, strongly connected, but not in a way she never even imagined.

Or for that matter spared a minute of her thoughts on.

Lena tried to reach out but Kara, she was all nerve-wracked. She doesn't know what to say, heck, she doesn't even know what to tell Alex despite her sister saying she's been acting weird all of the last three days. When Alex tried to ask her if something about what they talked about regarding what she possibly felt for Lena Luthor was bothering her, Kara all but rambled on about every bit of nonsense she could think of before promising her that they would talk at some point.

She just really needed to clear her head.

James tried to talk to her about it too, especially since he knew Kara was exposed to the two types of kryptonite and Kara didn't even know where to begin. Instead she asked James why he bolted and James all got flustered about his weird encounter with an under the influence of pink K Superman

Winn tried prying himself, which wasn't really helpful. Kara ended up asking him to go to the charity ball with her as sort of bribery to stop him from asking too many questions about it.

Mostly because Winn was hitting the head on most of the basic questions.

The 'Do you like someone new?' question, 'Would this person be in the party?', 'Did something happen already?', 'Does this have to do with the pink and periwinkle K incident?' and all.

Somehow, that morning, the panic had subsided and the urge to see Lena again was starting to win over. Kara was still nervous, she still felt lost at what to do, but she knew she couldn't hide away forever.

There were _feelings_ she couldn't ignore. Feelings that had been slowly but surely building since she met Lena.

What was she to do? She didn't know. But she had to keep moving.

And move she did until her path had led her to the charity ball that evening, her eyes immediately spotting Lena Luthor talking to Kate Kane, some other man she's never met, and Maxwell Lord.

Her stomach did a good flip or two when her eyes landed on the CEO, Kara starting to grow more and more aware of the things that Lena made her feel. Winn tried his hand at teasing but when Kara didn't reply, he decided to back off on his own.

And then of course, Lena spotted her and started to walk towards her and Kara could feel her heartbeat racing faster and faster with every step the CEO took.

Lena looked like a vision, a princess in a white dress with her hair cascading down her shoulders. There was a softness to her look that evening, so far away from the usual presence she had about her, and Kara couldn't help her imagination taking her places because clearly it wasn't the kryptonite talking three days ago, the thoughts have always been there.

She was just actively ignoring them.

Until she can't anymore.

And as soon as Lena smiled and greeted Kara, asking "How are you? I've missed you the past few days." the warmth in the CEO's smile sent an instant rush of butterflies knocking the wind out of her... and _Rao_ there goes the breathing, but who needs to breathe anyways? Breathing's overrated.

While Kara did try to act normal and play it cool, she clearly didn't, becoming a little too overwhelmed by the moment. Her mind kept flashing back to the time she almost kissed Lena and then the time she actually did, and Kara realized that she really, really just wanted to kiss her again.

Her throat felt dry and she wanted to grab another drink as words incoherently tumbled out of her mouth resulting in her nearly knocking the tray of champagne glasses out of the server's hands and towards Winn's direction. With that little embarrassing moment, she felt the urge to just get out of there fast.

She had grabbed Winn's hand and persisted to stay in his presence for a good while before the Waltz music started to play, Winn and James asking her to dance to shake off the nerves.

Winn finally won out and Kara couldn't help but be thankful that Alex didn't see her making a mess of herself.

Although her boss did, judging from the strange look she saw Cat Grant shoot her way as she and Winn made it to the dance floor.

"Are you okay? Honestly, I'm just genuinely concerned for you Kara." Winn then said as they danced.

Kara sighed. "I don't know."

"Does it have to do with Lena Luthor? It's her isn't it? She's the one making you feel all, whatever it is you're feeling?" Winn asked while Kara tried to distract herself with the fact that Winn can actually dance well. Kara shot Winn a shy and unsure smile as the music continued to fill the hall. From her view she could see Dick Grayson sneak off with a redheaded girl in a wheelchair. Alex, in the meantime, was dancing at some far off distance with Kate Kane of all people, her sister looking at the redhead suspiciously.

And then there was Lena dancing with, strangely enough, Maggie Sawyer, the detective taking the lead with the dance. The same look of suspicion on the CEO's face.

Whether or not the suspicion was there though, Kara was sure she couldn't help but wish that she was the one dancing with Lena, have her hands on her waist, and have that short but brief moment with her.

A moment that would feel like a dream come true.

"Earth to Kara." Winn then said, bringing her attention back to the present.

"Sorry." she managed to mumble as the music started to die down just before being followed by another piece.

"Kara, be honest with me, do you like Lena?" Winn then asked. "I mean, you know, like her, _like_ her."

"I…" Kara started to respond not sure of what to say as an answer. She was too afraid to know just how much she liked Lena at that point and simply nodded in response to Winn's question.

Winn sighed. "I'm not particularly fond of the Luthor branding, you can't really trust a Luthor." Winn then awkwardly said as he looked away. He cleared his throat a little before going on, "And really as your best friend it's my duty to keep an eye out for you. But I'll be a hypocrite if I say that she doesn't deserve a chance for you to get to know or anything just because of her family. You gave me a chance and my dad's a murdering psychopath, so… All I know is, I know the way she looks at you. I understand what that look means, and I can't really blame her."

Kara looked at Winn moved by what he had said. Winn managed to look back and smile, he was trying and that made Kara feel a little better. First Alex, now him.

Other people could see it, they could see what she felt and they were sort of cheering her on, making Kara feel a little more comfortable with her own feelings than before.

If anything, she couldn't help but wonder if this was what Alex felt. And here she thought she had a good idea of what her sister had been going through based on the own secrets she kept. Based on living her life as an ordinary human being when she was just so much more, when she wasn't even human to begin with.

The second piece had started to die out as a third piece started to play. Once again Kara caught a glimpse of Lena, this time the CEO was dancing with Kate Kane.

There was a comfort there, a familiarity with how the two danced with ease, Kate taking the lead. It was as if they've done it countless of times before that there movements on the dance floor felt like it was just second nature to them. The two chatted, Lena giving Kate a knowing look, as if she knew a secret the redhead was keeping, and Kate simply giving Lena a coy smile.

A new wave of jealousy had hit Kara, a little stronger than before, and if she had wished she could dance with Lena earlier, she was wanting it more and more now.

To take Kate Kane's place, move with such ease and grace on the dance floor with Lena. Be the lucky person who gets to share a dance with her while all others stared in jealousy.

"Kara, ease up a bit. I _am_ fond of my shoulders, or at least having them unbroken." Winn then commented, bringing Kara back to her present moment. She didn't even realize it but she had started to grip Winn's shoulder tightly instead of resting her hand there.

"Sorry." Kara once again apologized, easing up her grip. Winn seemed to take it in good humor as he shook his head and chuckled.

"Wow, Luthor really did a number on you, didn't she?" Winn asked. "Guess James and I were never really contenders." he commented, just before he looked away for a moment.

Winn had his forehead creased for a moment before a look of realization dawned on him. Before Kara could turn to look at the direction he was looking at, however, Winn swirled them around so that Kara wouldn't be able to follow.

And before she knew it, her back ended up hitting someone else's. Kara was about to turn and apologize but before she could she heard Kate's familiar voice greet her just as Winn had let her go.

"Ah, Kara, perfect timing. I see you look just as lovely this evening as my friend over here." Kate said just as Kara met Lena's eyes.

Lena's gaze didn't linger however, as she turned to Kate with a quirked brow, pursing her lips as a look of realization dawned upon her. Kate seemed to ignore her, smiling so sweetly innocent at Kara as she went on. "I fear I've tired myself down with dancing, could you maybe dance with her instead?" Kate asked bringing Lena's hands in her own. Lena was about to protest while Kara turned around to find Winn gone. Kate didn't give them a chance to speak, however, turning to leave as soon as Lena's hands were in Kara's.

"Well, I-I suppose… if you wouldn't mind dancing…" Kara started to say, watching as Kate disappeared from the dance floor and through the hall itself, grabbing a glass of champagne on her way out.

"I would love to." Lena said, smiling a little bit nervously at Kara.

It took them a moment to get their bearings and Kara was thankful that during all the times her parents, including her Aunt Astra, had taught her how to dance, her mom or her aunt would let her lead once in a while. It had been awkward, and rather clumsy, but she did learn how to dance well.

And while they were literally from different planets, Kara was also a little bit thankful that there was always some sort of type of waltz in all the places she's been.

That and after that incident when he stepped on the foot of her date for her junior prom here on earth, Alex taught her how to dance without sending your partner to the hospital. And that Alex taught her how to lead properly.

Kara released some of her nervous energy through a bit of giggling as they danced, grinning at the fact that her earlier wishes coming true. That she hasn't stepped on Lena's feet just yet brought a certain confidence in her to come out too, the two moving with such ease with the music. Lena couldn't help but smile brightly at her, looking a little relieved and genuinely happy, and in the end the two didn't say a word to each other during their dance, they simply enjoyed the moment for all that it was.

The music soon ended and reality started to sink in to Kara again.

The two of them really needed to talk.

Before the music could start once more, Lena had grabbed Kara by both of her hands and smiled gently at her, leading her away from the dance floor. Lena soon had to let go of one of Kara's hands, the CEO looking for her way through the premises. They made it up towards the third floor balconies, where a few guests chatted, watching the festivities below. Some doing a little bit more than chatting beneath the shadows that concealed them. Kara tried to ignore the couples, and for the sake of not once again becoming a fumbling, gushing, bright red mess like she was earlier, she tried to clear her mind of any thoughts that might be going through her mind. Lena seemed to know her way, not without a bit of second guessing, but if anything it would seem that she's been here before.

The two eventually found themselves on the fourth floor, outside a small terrace leaning out to provide a view of the party below. "I figured we needed a more private place to talk." Lena then said with a sigh as she placed a hand on the railings and looked down below.

Kara stepped forward, tentatively letting go of Lena's hand as she placed both her hands on the railings as well. She briefly turned to look at the dancing guests, the faint sounds of the music still reaching them. Kara took a deep breath and sighed before turning to face Lena again, her eyes still looking away, but oh, how they shined so brightly that Kara couldn't help but get lost in them.

"Well, Kara, should I start or you?" Lena then asked, turning to face her and Kara gave some sort of a half-smile.

"I… I suppose I should." Kara then said, trying to keep her breathing controlled. "Lena, I… Well I'm…" she started to say. She was planning to say sorry, again, for what felt like the hundredth time that day alone but then she wasn't really sorry.

If anything, she wanted to apologize for bolting right after she kissed Lena after she had apologized for almost kissing her.

But no, she didn't want to apologize for kissing Lena. Unless of course Lena didn't want her to.

Kara tried to reform her words but try as she might she couldn't come up with anything to say and Lena simply gives her a look, her brows knitted together. Kara could tell she was trying to figure out what was going on with Kara, with them, so Lena took a deep breath and formed the words for Kara instead. "Kara" she said with a softness that only Lena seemed to be able to do as she reached out to hold Kara's hands yet again.

"Kara, the two of us, we are friends, right?" Lena asked, sounding a little uncertain for a moment and Kara simply nodded. "But…" Lena then said, breaking her gaze away from Kara for a moment as she looked at their hands, smiling a little awkwardly. There was a dip in her tone and Kara knows she's heard this before. A few times already when she and Lena spoke. When the CEO's confidence would fail her a little despite trying not to show it. "But something happened that other night and I don't think we can just ignore it." Lena then said and once again Kara nodded, looking away.

Kara could feel her nerves building up again when she felt Lena give her hands a gentle squeeze. "Kara" she said once again, and Kara looked up to meet Lena's eyes. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked almost in a whisper, her eyes were searching hers for an answer, hopeful and terrified. Just like Kara.

Because how could she tell Lena? What would she tell her? Where would she even start?

Lena was trying to read her again when her answer wouldn't come. The struggle and confusion in her mind was keeping her paralyzed to say anything.

Kara soon found herself staring down at their hands, unable to look Lena in the eyes, afraid she might say something wrong. She didn't think it would be this hard, but it was. Why didn't anyone ever warn her _this_ would be so hard?

Lena took a deep breath and sighed, prompting Kara to look up. Before she knew it, Lena was leaning in and Kara was all but transfixed by the moment, by the welling feeling in her chest. "Stop me if I'm wrong…" Lena whispered, her lips barely inches away, but how could Kara even stop her?

She wanted to feel Lena's lips on hers once again.

And she did. Soft, warm, and Kara couldn't really help but sigh in relief as Lena had kissed her and she kissed back almost desperately hard. How could she not when kissing Lena was all she could think about since the other day because it was the only thing that made sense for her. Regardless of the way Kara felt for Lena and their implications, what her world thought, she more than wanted to kiss Lena all over again. She _needed_ to.

That was the one thing she knew was true.

Somehow she heard an _oomph_ and found that Lena's back was against one of the pillars that held the fifth floor above them. She could hear her heart beating just as fast as Lena's as their lips kept moving against each other's, a need growing more and more between them as hands roamed and their breathing grew hard.

And Kara didn't want to stop, no. She wouldn't ever stop.

Except her ears – curse her stupid super-hearing – picked up something else almost like a reflex.

The word 'Cadmus' was said somewhere and her instincts screamed for her to be alert.

Especially after she heard her name mentioned by a man's voice right after 'Cadmus'. It was familiar but Kara couldn't exactly figure out whose it was.

She pulled away from Lena, their foreheads pressed together as they tried to catch their breaths all while some sort of trepidation started to build inside her. She had to focus, find the voice she heard again. Pinpoint its location…

…all the way up from somewhere in the twenty third floor. "Lena, we really need to talk, b-but, I need to go." she then said, her voice shaking as she reluctantly pulled away. There was a sense of urgency in her tone that Lena seemed to have picked up on.

This time however she didn't leave, not until she knew for sure that Lena knew she wasn't running away and bolting again. That this time she had reasons to go, reasons she couldn't exactly explain but wish that Lena would understand. She could try and come up with a solid excuse later if she ever asks later on.

But it would seem that Lena understood as the CEO tried to recompose herself, nodding wordlessly.

She still didn't leave, however, until Lena softly said "Go." and while Kara was left wondering just how good Lena really was to let her leave without a question – of course she didn't know that Lena didn't chuck it up to just Supergirl being needed somewhere – she fought herself to focus on where on the twenty third floor those voices came from.

She looked around to check that she was indeed alone before super-speeding up, tracking the voices to an office dedicated to Bruce Wayne's own use for whenever he or one of his own surrogates – like Dick Grayson or that other kid that Dick mentioned in his speech, Tim Drake – was in town.

Kara tried to use her X-ray vision on the room to see who were inside but found that the room was lined with lead and that she couldn't see through it.

That alone had only alarmed her even more.

But then again, lead didn't stop her from using her super-hearing.

"How long do you think we have?" she heard a voice ask, it was Kate Kane.

"I don't know, it's hard to tell." she heard a different person say. It was a female's voice. "They had a hard time to get things going, hence the many failed attempts. Human technology simply couldn't handle what they needed. That's why they moved onto using templates and why they're moving to use that same concept with the new project. They seemed to have tried the same template for Project 13 but the glaring difference between the sources led to mutations in their initial experiments. At least that's what we heard Westfield tell his associates."

"To be more precise, they want a similar template to Project 13's, at least to a certain extent since the sample extracted from Kara seemed to be more stable and sturdy, could be because of the difference in radiation levels in space and on earth and since she lived in space for years." a third voice said, a voice that sounded like Dick Grayson. "Project 13 is still ongoing, although the raids have delayed efforts in finalizing the project so they can secure a location for it. Motivations for building a better model with Project 14 also contributed to this."

"Hang on, they're moving it?" Kate asked.

"That's what we got which means they're starting to grow aware of the raids." the other woman said. "Westfield said he wanted to keep 'the brother and sister close' as they work on focusing their efforts on the new project and wrapping up old ones." she went on but by that point Kara has had enough.

From what they were talking about, Kara was sure they were talking about Cadmus. She still didn't know what Project 13 was all about, or what they meant by templates, but she knew that the three people in that room, including Kate, knew her secret.

That Kara... that she was Supergirl...

And whatever the new project was that they were talking about, Kara couldn't help but think that the vial of her blood that Cadmus possessed had something to do with this.

A new kind of fear had started to grip her, as she wasted no time in searching for Alex in the party. Kate Kane knew her secret, and so did Dick Grayson. She had guessed that the third person in the room was the redhead that Dick had left with and that she also knew who she was.

They knew something, something more than what Kara knew. How long they've known, she wasn't sure. And while a part of her felt like she could trust Kate, the comment about 'brother and sister' made her panic a little, a nagging feeling telling her that it had something to do with Lena, and like hell would she ever allow Cadmus lay a finger on Lena.

She spotted Alex by the bar with Maggie and Kara wasted no time in finding her way to her sister.

The two of them needed to talk.

* * *

It was probably the definition of the early hours of morning, Alex didn't really care. The party they left behind felt like it was a memory of a faraway day.

She's had enough too.

Of course she really didn't want to have to end the night with Maggie the way she did, but Kara needed her. She heard something and they needed to get answers behind it. They gathered Winn and James as they made their way out and headed straight to the DEO to talk about what they found. J'onn was nowhere to be found – the treatments were working well but Alex did tell him to take it easy – leaving Agent Vasquez in charge, yet again, while they were all away for the night. Mon-El had his new gig at the dive bar, being a bartender – he needed to get started on living like a human and earning his wages – and Alex could only guess that J'onn was there too, avoiding any need to address his whole issue with M'gann and how Superman and Kate had been calling him out on it, asking him to give talking to her a chance.

They tried to do some searching of their own, about a Project 13 and Paul Westfield, where they could find him, but they had unwittingly stumbled onto the same problem that the Oracle herself had found when she was initially trying to figure out where he was and how they could potentially use the situation to spy on him and gain some intel. But Alex didn't know that.

From her point of view, Kate Kane and her friends could turn out to be their enemies, at least from the ambiguous message of what Kara had picked up from eavesdropping on them. The message being that they knew _something_ and they were taking great lengths to keep anyone away from spying on them.

Or whatever the purpose of the lead-lined office was, it could very well just be Bruce Wayne's own paranoia that suspicions were piling up on them.

But that was beside the point. Alex needed answers and she was getting it one way or the other tonight.

It was half-past two. Kara had decided to go home and rest about half an hour earlier, Winn and James agreeing with her that they could get answers directly from Kate when they see her again, at least try asking J'onn what he knew, but Alex had other ideas.

That's why she found herself sneaking into Kate Kane's National City residence, a stunt that wasn't too hard to pull off, not when she recruited a very reluctant Winn to back her up in the last minute to help deal with some of the security measures that Kate seemed to be very lax with.

At least in National City. Alex remembered Maggie explaining to her when they left that while Kate had some security measures built-in to her own place – she had noticed the cameras, a few alarm trips and what-nots that didn't _all_ seemed to be active – it wasn't as crazy as her set-up in Gotham.

At least for some of her earlier years. During the time they dated, Kate seemed to have relaxed a little bit and Maggie explained that perhaps it was the years that passed between the initial incident years ago.

Alex had no idea what Maggie meant but a bit of digging with Winn and they found out that Kate was abducted from her own apartment once by some terrorist cult group.

Winn provided great help, and Alex's own skills did the rest. Soon, she found herself standing in the middle of the socialite's living room with nothing but the pale light of the city outside, filtering through her curtains, guiding her way.

"Winn, I'm in. She doesn't seem to be at home." Alex whispered through her com expecting some quick-witted comeback from Winn only to find that she had been cut-off.

Something was jamming their communications.

"You know, you could have just knocked." she heard Kate say. Alex turned and found the redhead leaning by the doorway of her study. The air of amusement she usually keeps around her along with her flirty nature was gone.

It was just her, Katherine Rebecca Kane, greeting Alex under no pretense whatsoever, despite her choice of words or whatever it is she says.

Kate Kane in a pair of black boy shorts and a loose fitting white dress shirt messily buttoned up with a scar peaking from her chest right above her sternum and close to her heart. Alex couldn't help but wonder what that scar was about, what left it there, and how Kate was even alive considering its location.

"My eyes are up here, Agent Danvers." she teased with a dry chuckle and Alex's eyes snaps up to meet hers. She would get flustered but she wasn't Kara. Besides, Kate was barely even trying to get her flustered and Alex was here for business.

"I'm here for answers, Kane. And I'm here to get them no matter how."

Kate sighed and walked towards the living room, reaching for her decanter and raising it towards Alex's direction. "Care for a drink?" she asked trying to be more playful and Alex all but growled.

"I'm not here to play games, Kane. I'm here to figure out why you're here in National City in the first place. Why you're getting yourself right in the middle of dealing with Cadmus? Considering you've all but complained about being in the DEO whenever we're there or every time J'onn made a comment about you being an agent again, it really makes me wonder what your stake in this is. What? Did Cadmus do some terrible thing at Gotham you're seeking vengeance for? You suddenly care about the DEO's enemies? Or are you actually doing this out of the goodness of your heart for alien kind?" Alex went on as Kate poured herself a drink and patiently listened to Alex's little interrogation bit.

She set her glass down after taking a sip and smiled. "Short answer, a friend asked me. I owed him so I said yes. Long answer, well, considering Cadmus is, was, under Lex's control, maybe I wanted to be in the middle of it to protect someone I cared about. You have a sister, Agent Danvers, a sister I know you would do everything and anything in your power to protect. I had, _have_ , a sister too. I failed to protect her simply because I couldn't before and right now I'm trying so hard to get her back to me. Now, one of the only people I have left, a person I consider family, is right in the middle of a rather nefarious plot. I failed a sister once, I won't again. I have my stake in this too." she replied, the seriousness in her tone was unmistakable as she stared straight back into Alex's eyes.

It wasn't that hard for Alex to figure out that she was talking about Lena, but that didn't really do much to quell down any of her suspicions of Kate.

"So you're doing this for a Luthor?" Alex asked with a scoff and Kate simply shook her head before sighing.

"Whatever it is that you don't like about me, Agent Danvers, you're just going to have to let go soon. We're two sides of the same coin. Different but we have the same goals." was what she gave as a reply before she turned around, heading towards her study once more.

"That's not the answer I was looking for." Alex replied, walking towards Kate and grabbing her by the hand to make her turn around once more.

"I know that." Kate replied, not backing down as she pushed Alex's hands off of her arm. "But you sound like being one thing automatically makes you another. So what if Lena's a Luthor? Doesn't make her anything that she isn't. Just like your sister isn't evil just because she's an alien." Kate remarked.

And something about it definitely ticked her off. Maybe it was just the building tension of all the secrets, maybe it was just the whole thing with Cadmus.

Or maybe because it was because there was someone in this world who she barely even knew who already knew Kara's secret and that she had been talking about it with other people she barely even knew too.

Maggie trusted her, sure. She trusted Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon too. And while Alex trusted Maggie, to Alex, they didn't have any business with Kara being an alien, with her being Supergirl.

Alex doesn't know them well enough to know what they would do with Kara's secret. There were too many variables to consider, too many possible outcomes.

Kate tried to shrug off Alex's lack of answer as she proceeded to turn around once again and head to her study, it sounded like she was about to say something but Alex didn't wait for it. She rushed to close the small distance between them to pin Kate down. It was more on instinct really, especially after the whole affair with Maxwell Lord spying on them came to light.

She just didn't trust people with Kara's secret easily.

However, Kate managed to stop her attempts, pinning her down against the wall near the door of her study instead. "Your sister and Lena, you and I too, we're all just caught up in a long going feud between two people who considered themselves brothers for the longest of time. But whether or not we have a stake in this directly, would it really matter? I know what a threat like Cadmus possesses, I've faced a similar threat before, and I've continually been dealing with it. Stop being impetuous and hotheaded about this, not everything is solved by storming the castle." Kate said, no trace of playfulness lingered any longer. She was dead serious.

Alex struggled, which annoyed her even more really. Twice, this has happened twice now and it pissed her off.

She did manage to kick Kate in the shin and break free. The two stumbled a little as Alex tried to pin Kate down and the redhead countered. Alex was back on attacking, Kate quickly defending herself with ease.

Alex found that her rashness was quickly being fueled by the immediate results of their scuffle. She wanted to bring Kate in, question and interrogate her. This time she's not holding back.

And yet, despite the training she's had, her years of experience, Kate was barely breaking a sweat with her efforts, and it was getting to Alex. She knew she worked for the DEO, fine. Supernatural cases, sure, whatever. She had experience too.

But Alex was a DEO agent, and when she became one, she never stopped. For all she knew Kate was working on a few side projects like this out of whim, living her life with the extravagance her place in society granted her. Yet Kate wasn't even fighting her seriously, she was just blocking her.

_How was she beating her like this?_

She heard Kate sigh after Alex tackled her through the door of her study, Kate managing to break free from her in an instant. "You're making a lot of the same mistakes I've made when I started. That's why you're easy to read, Agent Danvers." she said as she briefly turned around to twist a pawn off the board of a chess board set up to the side of the room.

Alex dusted herself off, trying to think her movements through.

It was like a dance really. All her encounters with Kate have been like it.

Funny how earlier that evening they literally were dancing, Kate managing to convince her by saying she's doing it for Maggie.

Something did catch her attention. "Explain yourself."

"I've been trying to." Kate replied.

"Well, you're doing a poor job of it." Alex retorted.

"Yes, but I'm not the one who broke into someone else's home in the middle of the night just to confront them." Kate then said, raising a sword hanging on the wall for display to a certain angle.

Alex took her chance, and managed to pin Kate by the bookshelves but the redhead simply laughed, reaching for a book and tipping it forward before returning it to its former position. Alex heard a _click_ from somewhere behind the bookshelves and Kate easily broke free of her grasps.

"You've got potential Agent Danvers, and you have both passion and conviction to get the job done, but you act rashly, without thinking sometimes, when you're emotionally compromised because of the situation, and that's going to cost you." Kate said as the two once again tried to outmatch the other, Alex more than Kate. The heiress was mostly trying to keep herself free of Alex's attempts. "I was like you once, and trust me I paid for my mistakes when I was but a neophyte of sorts."

"I'm sure the academy forgave you for it. Or was it the DEO?" Alex threw back. "Whatever it was, we've got it handled. I don't care if you've got Superman believing in you, or J'onn, but you're not even an agent anymore. If you really want to help you'll do the right thing and let _us_ handle it."

Kate chuckled just as Alex nearly had her down on her desk. Their little argument turning into a real brawl. "If government agencies like the DEO were truly efficient and can be a hundred percent trusted, then explain Paul Westfield for me? The DEO wanted him on Project Cadmus and he had his own agendas that are now being actively pursued by an organization the government failed to contain and that could now potentially endanger more people than the alien life forms he wants to eradicate." Kate explained, blocking another attack from Alex.

"Take Gotham too, for example." she went on all while Alex continued her efforts, getting creative and using her environment like tripping over a chair in her way, or toppling over books, as Kate defended herself. "Gotham's sick and dying because of the corruption in the system that lets criminals get away with what they've done. It's all about connections really, a sick game of the powerful that's turned into a cancer that's killing the people living in the city. Taking away from those who barely have any all while gangs and mobs, and people in the finest suits run the city alongside the colorful rogues who wants a piece of it for their own. Metropolis wasn't like Gotham but Lex's obsessions has stained the city for good too, throw in Superman's own gallery of enemies too, all of them hellbent on making a being they regard as a god kneel down before them. National City's a haven in comparison to the two, but there are people who would also want to try and corrupt it, taint it for good."

"Well, Supergirl's going to be there to stop them. With _us_ backing her up. We're going to defend this city the right way, unlike those vigilantes from your city. They're effective, sure, but they're not the solution." Alex retorted in frustration.

"Maybe not, but if I'm not mistaken, _those_ vigilantes saved your sister a few times already." Kate countered just as she tripped Alex over with a slick move she didn't see coming.

Alex grunted, and quickly tried to pick herself from the ground when she saw Kate disappear as she pushed one of the tall bookcases and moved passed it.

There was a hidden door somewhere. Alex followed through and saw herself in a dark and narrow hall leading to some ramp that headed up. Kate was headed to the ramp that Alex noticed curved upwards, the scarce lights lining the walls turning on as she moved pass them.

Alex followed, keeping her distance, before rushing towards Kate again as they made their way up the incline. Kate was ready, however, and threw Alex down as they reached the landing of the next level. "It was also a vigilante who saved my life in an alleyway once. Didn't really need defending, I'm not a victim, but still he kept watch, he reached out a hand and helped me stand. It was a vigilante who changed my life forever that night. Made me see how I was wasting my life away when I could do so much more." she heard Kate say as she made her way through the dark room they were in.

Alex's body hurt like hell, she's been knocked down a few times already and she was getting tired of it. She stayed the way she was on the ground for a minute to try to get her bearings but she could barely see anything in the room other than vague outlines of a main computer system like in the DEO's but much smaller, and a few shelf like items around her.

Her only source of light were two dull light sources by where the ramp ended and that soon disappeared when Alex pulled her leg away from the edge of the room leaning down to the incline as she tried to get up, a door closing behind her.

"I don't blame you, Alex. I haven't exactly been honest and yet I'm asking you to trust me. I admit, that was my mistake. But I never intended to make anything personal, you see. To know you or Kara the way I do now. When I got here, I thought it would be faster, easier really, to just get the job done the way I knew best." she heard Kate say as Alex tried to turn around and figure out where they were. For that matter, she was trying to figure out how a secret room like this was built in a high rise. She could sense it was a bit cramped, but still. "So perhaps, if you're done, _we_ can start a new?"

"Why should _we_?" Alex replied, still sounding a little bit cautious, just as she heard a clap from Kate.

"Because I have secrets too," Kate started to say simply, the dim lights in the room turning on one by one to reveal some sort of mini-command center and crime lab around her. Alex took in the whole sight of it as she spun around, letting out a little bit of gasp as her eyes finally landed on Kate.

More importantly, on the suit inside the case behind her.

"And Alex, I'm choosing to trust you." she heard her say and finally Alex understood, connecting the dots between the isolated pieces that surrounded Kate Kane's involvement with the fight against Cadmus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes! Ted Kord and Maxwell Lord are apparently friends in the comics at some point. Max helped the JLA and then he was a villain at one point too, he's more neutral. Anyways, I thought it might be fun to see Maggie jealous. As for Lana Lang, she was a business columnist/editor at some point for The Daily Planet. So yeah, those are your comic nods.
> 
> Now for Alex VS Kate, well, Alex is essentially an anti-thesis to Kate so I figured that the talk about being a vigilante and working for the DEO might help them reconcile their differences, plus fighting a bit to get it out of their system. They're working towards the same goal but from different directions. Batwoman/Kate, despite being fond of J'onn, is still iffy about the DEO because of her experiences with them. So having that scene with them is sort of a way to hash out their differences. I had Kate defend more since she's more experienced in a sense than Alex. At least for the purpose of this fic, she's had double the years of experience as Alex.
> 
> True confessions, I was listening to Strauss and Tchaikovsky while writing most of this chapter. The Alex and Kate bit, I may have been listening to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata while emptying a bottle of champagne so (just with the last scene though)... :P
> 
> UPNEXT: Well, I'm obviously delayed with the holidays but since we're gearing up with crossover schtuff with the Arrowverse peeps, I'm clearly doing Thanksgiving next. Let's see if I can get the next chapter up by the 2nd or the 3rd. Expect an awkward dinner, a few wormholes, and reconciliation of a few things, and bye-bye Dick and Babs for now too :)


	14. What I'm Thankful For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's later than I thought since I got a little busy but here's chapter 14 featuring awkward Thanksgiving dinner, awkward talks (?), awkward… everything really. Tensions are settling down and some building up.
> 
> Plus a special guest appearance from the fastest man alive. The Arrow-verse (Flash, Arrow, and Legends) mini-arc of sort starts next chapter although most of it would deal with our Super-team dealing with Supergirl's absence. The crossover itself, for this fic, would have the Arrow-verse people (not all of 'em) 'spill' into Earth-38 (I'm looking at Barry here…) and return the favor of helping Supergirl with something (because Sara meeting Kate, Maggie, Alex, and Lena would just be sooo wonderful ;3), not the other way around. So stay tuned for that!

Something about how the night before ended was bugging Maggie. It was like having a heavy feeling of foreboding that she just couldn't shake off. But whatever it was, she decided to let it be, at least until the next day.

Alex had to leave with her sister, Winn, and James. She barely saw Kate after the waltzing trick she had come up with too, and though she saw Dick and Barbara just before she left the party herself, it looked like there was something heavy weighing on their minds. The two invited her for dinner the next day, a proper send off as their visit to National City had concluded and they were leaving just before the holiday weekend. Something about promising Damien, Bruce Wayne's son, that they would be back for Thanksgiving.

Maggie woke up that next day with her mind still wondering about what on earth could possibly be going on. She really needed to get her own answers soon, stay in the loop, if she wanted to make sense of anything that was happening. She tried calling Alex just as she was having her morning cup of coffee, but to no avail, Alex wouldn't answer her phone.

A part of her started to worry. Alex could possibly still be sleeping, that's what Maggie kept telling herself to reassure that everything was alright. She didn't want to think of anything bad happening. Besides, all Alex said as an excuse was it was an emergency of sorts, family related.

Maggie felt a little jealous when she had said that, mostly since both Winn and James were dragged off with Kara when Alex left. She figured that they've known each other longer and it probably involved them. But then a part of her started thinking that it might have been a DEO-related thing, and perhaps Alex was simply taking her sister home to be sure she makes it safely back or something.

Although Kara was the one who reached out to her, so really, who knows?

As for Kate, Maggie didn't see her after she had sought out Lena and Ted Kord's company once more. She shared a drink or two before she offered to take Lena Luthor home, the two looking serious as they talked. All Maggie got was a wave goodbye when they passed by each other, which suggested that whatever she and Lena were talking about must be something really important.

That's why Maggie decided that she'd check on Kate on her way to the DEO that morning. She wanted to make sure Alex was okay but she also knew that Kate was in the city for her vigilante gig and that what she was working on directly involved Alex too. That and Kate's National City residence was already on the way to the DEO's main facility, so really, she might as well.

Perhaps it was her strong instincts or her detective's intuition, but stopping by Kate's apartment that morning seemed to be the right choice for Maggie.

It was like killing two birds with one stone.

"I can't believe this is tea." she heard Alex grumble as she stepped into the living room.

Because yes, there she was, Alex Danvers, her legs crossed as she sat in Kate's couch sipping on her drink. At a glance it looked like scotch, but judging from what she said Maggie could guess that it was the tea in Kate's decanter.

Kate Kane was sitting opposite Alex with a self-satisfied smirk, sipping on her own drink, looking incredibly tired. "Really, Agent Danvers, I'm surprised by your lack of imagination. Perception is a very powerful tool, you know?"

"I do." Alex replied with a deep sigh. "I just never imagined this kind of deceit." she begrudgingly admitted.

"It takes a whole lot of commitment to pull off." Kate then replied before she looked over at Maggie who was left standing in strange amusement seeing the two have some sort of decent and cordial conversation. "Hmm, oh hey Mags. What are you doing here?"

"I missed something, didn't I?" Maggie asked as she blinked slowly and processed everything she had just witnessed.

Kate laughed, "Ah, yes, you see Agent Danvers here thought I was plotting with Cadmus and wanted to end Supergirl, or something to that effect, and so she decided to capture me and bring me in, so to speak."

"Ugh, you make it sound like I was here to assassinate you." Alex then complained.

"Well, you did attack me." Kate pointed out.

"Skipping the rest of her update…" Alex then said to Maggie, jumping in before Kate could recount whatever it was that happened last night. "I _know_."

"You told her?" Maggie asked a little surprised and Kate simply nodded. But she had to admit, it would give the less tense air between them a lot more sense.

If Alex knew that Kate was Batwoman, then she would understand that she could be trusted, that she was here to help them bring down Cadmus.

And the only secret that Maggie was keeping about Kate would be gone.

Alex knew.

And now Maggie could feel a whole lot lighter, she wasn't keeping anything else between them.

Well, other than the fact she knew who Nightwing and Oracle were, but Alex was smart. If she knew that Kate was Batwoman, then it wouldn't take much to figure out that Dick was Nightwing and Barbara was the Oracle at the very least.

"I still can't believe I didn't see it." Alex said with a sigh as she gulped down the rest of her drink. "Redheaded vigilante shows up in town after you, both originally from Gotham. And I mean, I had my suspicions, but not _this_."

"Sometimes we just don't look hard enough to see. Isn't that the same premise some of the people we know use to aid their disguise to live ordinary day to day lives?" Kate then replied. "Truthfully though, there was a time when I had cut my hair short and wore a wig as Batwoman. It was a good way to separate my two personas, at the very least, it added some confusion to some. But, I've decided it was time to let my hair grow out a little, so you know."

"Okay, well, I'm just glad _this_ is out in the open." Maggie then replied, still somewhat awkwardly standing in the living room. "You okay, Danvers?" she then asked Alex who was looking rather pensive.

"Yes, just tired I suppose." Alex replied as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"How about I take you out for breakfast and then I take you home so you can rest?" Maggie then offered.

Alex looked up and smiled at Maggie warmly, which made Maggie feel a little bit more relieved. "I think I'd love that very much."

Alex seemed to be handling things well. She wasn't sure what happened last night, but from the looks of it, the two stayed up all night. Talking may have been involved but Maggie had a feeling that something a bit more tense and heated had occurred too.

The fact that either of them are not messily dead is something she chose to take comfort in.

But then Alex suddenly bolted up, a hand to her face as she seemed to have realized something. Kate looked just as surprised as Maggie was at that moment.

"Crap! I forgot!" Alex then exclaimed.

"What?" Maggie asked. It was an obvious question, but flustered and nervous was now added to the list of things on Alex's emotional state.

Other than tired of course.

"My mom! She's coming in today. Her flight should be touching down at the airport in like half an hour and I was supposed to pick her up… and oh God! I look like a mess!" Alex went on before turning to look at Kate "I feel like crap thanks to you too."

"Again, not my bright idea to storm _my_  castle last night." Kate replied before sighing. "You can use one of my cars and my driver if you like, at least as my form of extending an olive branch and apologizing for roughing you up. Tell your mom you've made a new friend. Use one of the guest rooms now to freshen up. I'm pretty sure I have clothes you can borrow so you at least look fairly decent." Kate then replied. "I can have someone buy breakfast. My personal assistant lives two floor down."

"No need, if you have actual food in your kitchen, I'm sure I can whip something up." Maggie then offered her help all while Alex was frantically looking for her phone only to realize that the battery had died. Maggie handed Alex hers to use, possibly to message Kara or her mom, and Alex gladly accepted it. "And you have a personal assistant now?"

"I do, feel free to use the kitchen. I'm going to my room." Kate then replied as she tried to fight the sleep that was slowly trying to take hold of her. "And I've always had one, just likes to work behind the scenes and I prefer it that way really. Make sure they don't stick their business in _matters_ that don't involve them. And please, for the love of God, Mags, leave my spare key behind or I'm really changing the locks." she commented before turning to leave, heading towards her bedroom.

"Do you want me to show you where the guest rooms are?" Maggie then asked as Alex returned her phone to her with an apologetic smile.

"No, no need. I got the grand tour last ni- well more like early this morning. I was wondering how she fit a secret base in a penthouse suite so Kate explained how she had most areas have high ceilings in the house except for the individual rooms, personally built the narrow passage ways between each private rooms and study, and had the base on top of the normal height ceilings." Alex said sounding impressed as she looked around the apartment with a look of admiration.

"So you two besties now?" Maggie awkwardly asked.

"Far from it." Alex replied with a chuckle. "But she did explain everything, why she's here, a bit of her vigilante training and all." Alex admitted, her face taking a somber look. "We both made mistakes but I think we can get past all that and work together from now on. Slow steps though, she's still annoying at times."

"It's a sign that she likes you if she teases you." Maggie then replied with a shrug. "Now, we have like roughly about twenty-five minutes before your mom's plane hits the tarmac. Go get dressed Danvers, we can continue talking about this later."

"Right." Alex said, turning to leave before turning back and mumbling incoherently about something regarding her mom.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Alex was trying to get at, really, so Maggie simply shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry Danvers, I'm not going to pressure you into any awkward situation. You can drop me at work on the way if that helps but I do think you need to tell your mom."

"I will." Alex replied with a light smile and rushing to at least try to make herself presentable despite the lack of any sleep.

And Maggie had to admit, she didn't quite expect her morning to turn up the way it did.

But she was somewhat glad about it.

* * *

 

Kara was pretty much pacing in her living room that morning, what with too many things left up in the air. First was Cadmus and her blood and what Kate Kane knew. She admitted even last night that her initial fears of what they might do were getting to her, and they might have jumped the gun. If it was something big, Kate would bring it to the DEO's attention. And it did sound big, so perhaps it was just a matter of time?

But then again, there was the whole part that Kate knew her secret. Including Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, who Alex named after she described the redheaded girl she saw with Dick that evening.

In truth, anything remotely related to Cadmus just had Kara on automatic defense mode. There were just too many alien experiments, mutations, and abductions for her liking.

Second was the fact that she just had to super-speed clean her apartment that morning because she just remembered that Eliza was coming for Thanksgiving and would be arriving that morning. It didn't help that Alex wasn't answering her phone, and Kara couldn't shake off the feeling that she should be worried about something but considering she was already worried about too many other things at the moment – really, her brain space can only handle so much information and emotions that needed to be processed – she figured her sister can handle it. Alex wouldn't do anything rash, and really it was just against another human being. If it was serious, someone should be ringing the alarm at the DEO right now. So maybe she was just already on her way to pick up Eliza at the airport. Maybe her phone died or she just couldn't hear it.

The third major thing that's been eating up space in Kara's mind came by the name 'Lena Luthor'.

Lena, who has become her friend, one of her most treasured friends as a matter of fact. Lena who was kind and gracious with her, who was soft and caring in her ways despite hiding behind a cold and sharp demeanor to others she simply didn't trust. Also, Lena whose brother had repeatedly tried killing her cousin, the only one left who she's related by blood with. Lena whose mother is currently in charge, if not one of the heads, of a group that's been the bane of her existence for the last few months.

Lena who she just couldn't stop thinking about despite pretty much every one of her friends and her sister warning her that she's a Luthor. Lena who she can't apparently stop kissing. Lena who she just can't help but want to care about and… and l-…

 _Yeah, let's not go there just yet._ Kara thought to herself as she stopped on her tracks, slowly taking in a deep breath before realizing it to try and calm herself down.

Too many things have been going on in her life and really, when did they just happen to exponentially get more and more complicated?

She heard a knock on the door and Kara spun around almost on auto-pilot, her thoughts still elsewhere, as she reached for the knob and pulled it open.

Kara almost let out a gasp when she looked up and saw none other than Lena Luthor herself standing outside of her apartment. She had her head tilted sideways, her eyes cast down with her hair cascading down her shoulders. She didn't look like she was on her way to work, which was a bit of a shock to Kara considering Lena doesn't ever know when to stop working. Instead, Lena was dressed simply, like the night when she came over to just hang out with Kara, in a pair of jeans, dark gray sweater, and a white coat.

Lena looked up just as soon as the door opened and smiled lightly at Kara. Thankfully Kara's words didn't fail her too much in that moment, that is, despite not being able to help but love how Lena looked in that moment – she was just, well, _Lena_ , not the CEO of L-Corp or a Luthor, just Lena.

"L-Lena, hi. Uh, surprise visit?" Kara found herself asking her. It was an obvious question, she knew that, but at least she managed to say something.

"Yeah, I was on my way to Kate's but I… Well, I figured we still needed to talk so I decided to drop by now. Is it not a good time?" Lena asked, her voice so gentle and soft that good time or not, Kara knew she would say yes.

Gentle and soft was something not just anyone could get from Lena Luthor, and she didn't realize how fond she was of it.

And Kara had to admit, it also made her feel a little bit special to know how Lena was like around her. That she was just herself when they were together.

"N-no… I mean, yes we can talk. Come in." Kara replied, stepping aside and letting Lena inside.

Lena walked towards the middle of the living room, dropping off her hand bag on the island in her kitchen before shoving her hands into her coat pocket looking a little bit nervous.

Kara couldn't help but emulate how Lena was acting as she closed the door, shoving her hands in her pants pocket as she walked towards the CEO in an attempt to stop herself from fiddling with her glasses.

"Kara…" Lena started, sounding a little breathless, a look of resignation on her face, "I, well, I don't normally do this."

"Do what?" Kara asked.

" _This_. I actually don't think I do it at all. Talk about what happened whether it was a kiss, or… or something more." Lena went on, taking her hands out of her pocket as she started playing with her gold bracelet.

"Yeah, we've been doing that a lot lately, huh?" Kara replied with a sheepish smile, not really knowing what to say. Somehow seeing Lena as nervous as she was about the whole thing, hearing the fast rhythm of her heart beating incredibly fast, it was letting her relax a little. But just a little.

Kara didn't need to listen to her own, she knew, she could feel it matching Lena's perfectly.

Like it was about to explode.

Lena laughed. "That's what you say? Really?" she asked.

And Kara couldn't help but give out a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Well, it's true." she admitted, her hands automatically reaching for her face in an attempt to hide the furious blushing on her cheeks.

But Lena stopped her, reaching for both her hands instead. "I think we're hopeless cases then."

"I think we are." Kara agreed. "You really don't do, any of this? Kiss girls and chase after them when said girl keeps running away? Or you know, not necessarily a girl, just…"

"Oh, I've kissed girls." Lena replied and Kara couldn't help but note that she only said girls while a part of her was growing a bit jealous of that confession. She didn't want to think about the other girls Lena had kissed before.

And thankfully, she didn't have to as Lena went on. "I just, I never really bothered caring much about what would happen after. And here you are, driving me insane because you almost kiss me and leave, then you apologize about it and kiss me again then runaway, and then we plan to talk about it and I kiss you to see if you'd bolt again but you don't, well not at first."

"Yeah, sorry about that, just… uh, family thing." Kara then interjected.

"Look Kara, romance, relationships, they're not really my field of specialty." Lena admitted. "I just, I know I care about what happens next between the two of us. You're very important to me." she went on to say, giving Kara's hands a gentle squeeze to let her know just how much she meant it, reassure her it was the truth. "Which I know sounds weird coming from a Luthor…" she then added, looking away briefly.

Kara placed on of her hands on Lena's cheeks, letting go of one of her hands, "Don't you ever say that again." Kara then said. "You're also very important to me Lena, which is why the past few days have been driving me insane as well. I was afraid I messed things up and lost you." Kara found herself admitting, gently brushing her thumb on Lena's cheeks as she felt the CEO breath out a sigh of relief.

"You didn't, Kara." Lena admits with a chuckle. "To be honest, I thought I'd lost you. I don't know why, or what prompted you to kiss me but I just… I've never felt anything like that. No one's ever kissed me like that." she confessed, her voice barely a whisper. "And, I'm not here to pressure you or anything, I just, I don't know… I wanted to get things cleared and make sure we're okay." Lena went on, once again grabbing Kara's hands and giving it a squeeze and Kara simply gave a nod in response.

More than anything, that's what she really wanted too. To make sure she didn't offend Lena, that they were still friends… that they were _okay._

It would be great if they were something mo-

 _Slow down with your thoughts there, Kara. s_ he thought to herself and yet, Kara knew, that if she was truly being honest with herself, she really did want them to be _more_.

Everything just seemed to be getting in the way, complicating things.

"I don't really know what's going on between you, or me, or us, but I don't… I'm not going to force you into something you're not comfortable with or that you don't want. We're friends, Kara, above anything else and I-I just don't want to lose you." she added, before taking a sigh and finally letting Kara's hands go. Lena gave her a weak smile as she went on.

"Lena, I-" Kara started, not really sure what to say. The look in Lena's eyes said it all, Kara understanding what she meant more and more.

No, Lena doesn't do this. She was telling the truth, Kara could see it in her eyes. She doesn't open herself up and be vulnerable. She's tough, she protects herself before anyone can even hurt her.

She doesn't let anyone see her weakness, or what she feels.

People were wrong about her every time they'd dismiss her as just another Luthor. Because Lena was so much more than that. She loves.

She loves, and loves, and gives so much more than what she should.

That's why she kept trying to reach out to Lex before she was crushed by the hopelessness of it all. That's why there was a look of pain in her eyes when Kara showed up in her office as Supergirl and warned her of her mother's involvement with Cadmus.

That's why Kara couldn't help the way she was feeling, the way Lena would make her heart beat and sway.

And no, she doesn't want to lose Lena either. She wanted to know whatever it was that's going on between the two of them but Kara was scared as hell to figure it out.

Lena smiled once more, giving Kara's arm a squeeze, "I just don't want things to be hard or awkward between us. We can talk through this, when you're ready. If you haven't figured out things, how you feel or why… if you don't know what to do now, that's fine too. I wanted to tell you how I felt, at the very least, because it's gnawing at me from the inside and God knows life's already too complicated to not say a thing about what mattered the most." she then said, reassuring Kara like she had been reading all the back and forth going on in her mind, before walking past her.

But before Lena could even get past her, Kara had stopped her, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her around.

She wasn't going to let her go, no.

At this point, sure or not of what she felt, Kara knew one simple truth.

It was like an intoxication. Lena was an addiction her own heart couldn't fight or let go.

She still wasn't sure what to say, much less, she still wasn't sure if she could do _this_. But Kara wanted to stop thinking about how she felt, she just wanted to _feel_ it, because she sure as hell have never felt that way before either.

So really, even without thinking, Kara wanted to convey what she felt the best way she knew how, and hoped that Lena would understand, that she wouldn't misinterpret it. She didn't want Lena to feel like Kara was just playing with her heart or something like that.

Whatever she felt for her, it was something so genuine and true that Kara just couldn't escape it.

Their lips met as she pulled her close, once again brushing against each other. Softly and slowly this time, like the first time she had kissed Lena. Except this time, she wanted to savor it, all of it. From how the kiss felt in its entirety, to the softness of her lips, to the warmth of her breath, to the way her heart is nearly bursting and how each and every fiber of her body felt alive. It was like a tingling sensation had spread from her chest to the very tips of her fingers as she cupped Lena's cheeks, her fingers slipping down the slope of her neck, feeling Lena's pulse matching her own heart beat per beat with whatever magical thing was coursing through her veins and spreading like wildfire.

She wanted the moment to last forever that way but with each passing second a growing need slowly overtook them both and the kiss grew into something more.

Like a spark in the cinders had been carefully kindled into a bright warm flame.

And maybe Kara doesn't know what Lena was feeling right then or to what she could compare all those emotions coursing through them, overtaking them. All she knew was the way she felt... that it was like she was doing a nose dive flip before flying.

It was absolutely exhilarating.

And Kara couldn't help but smile as she kissed Lena, a thought having occurred to her.

It was funny really, because after years of not flying, she compared the feeling again to the same feeling you get just before you kiss someone for the first time. But kissing Lena wasn't like that, no, it was more. So much more. And that was something Kara didn't even think would be possible, especially since they've kissed like three times now but Kara couldn't still quite get used to the feeling.

It was like flying without even trying.

And Kara suddenly felt like lightning had struck her, the electricity rushing through her spine and through all of her nerves just as her feet slowly started lifting off the ground that she grabs onto Lena as tightly as she could in a way that wouldn't hurt Lena, if only to tether herself on the ground.

But then Kara felt her feet landing firmly back to the ground as she suddenly pushed Lena away, the CEO looking curious by the abrupt change in Kara.

Kara didn't need to explain, however, that she had heard through her walls two familiar voices talking about how Alex ended up picking her mom in a Bentley with a chauffeur, Alex rambling on about a friend letting her borrow it for that morning. Which meant they were in the hallway.

Kara was beet red as she tried to fumble around and make herself look at least presentable, Lena looking at her curiously as she muttered about something incomprehensible about Eliza just in time for a gentle knock on Kara's door.

"J-just a second." Kara replied all nervous, thankful that Eliza at least had the decency to knock unlike Alex who simply barged in – _because, Rao, if Alex had barged in, she won't ever let me hear the end of it_. Lena started to laugh a little, one hand covering her lips as she reached the corner of Kara's mouth. She hastily wiped away any piece of 'evidence' on Kara as she cleaned off any smudges of her own lipstick on her mouth.

Lena shot a wink at Kara as she let her go to cross the room, opening the door a little bit mechanically as she welcomed Eliza with a hug.

She let both Alex and Eliza in, Alex shaking her head and sniggering behind her mom, not missing a beat from Kara's flushed face to Lena's rather shy demeanor. Kara knew that Alex could tell that something was up but that Alex didn't know what.

Kara decided to take what little comfort she could take from that.

"Oh, hello." Eliza said, greeting Lena as soon as she saw her. Lena smiled back with as much of her usual air of confidence that she can muster. Kara could still hear Lena's heart beating rapidly that she found it was a bit surprising how she could still project a cool and calm demeanor.

"You must be Kara's mom, she was just talking about you." Lena then said, walking to cross the room to shake Eliza's hand. "Lena Luthor, I'm a friend of Kara's." she then added, introducing herself.

Eliza smiled back, shooting a glance between Kara and Lena. Kara could feel Alex looking at her too, amused, but she chose to ignore her sister for the moment.

"I'm guessing the Bentley is yours then?" Eliza then said as she let go of Lena's hand.

"I'm sorry?" Lena asked confused before turning to look at Kara and Alex for some sort of explanation.

Kara simply turned to Alex and returned the favor of her look earlier. "Ah, yeah, no. That's, um, actually, a different wealthy friend's car." Alex pointed out.

"Black? Chauffeur is a tall guy with dark hair named Stefan?" Lena asked and both Alex and Eliza nodded. "Agent Danvers, I didn't know you and Kate Kane were friends." she then commented.

"Uh… well, it's kind of a long story really." Alex then replied, looking away, unsure what to say.

Lena Luthor had somehow turned the tables around between Kara and Alex's unspoken exchange of looks and teasing and Kara just really wanted to hug Lena right then and there.

And somehow Kara had this nudging feeling about what Alex had done after they parted ways at the DEO.

"Kate Kane?" Eliza replied, turning to Alex with a curious look and Alex simply shrugged.

That's when Kara decided they could talk about this mess later on, when Lena was gone and they could bring Eliza up to speed with everything that's been going on regarding Cadmus. "Yeah, she's this friend of Lena's from Gotham. We've sort of become friends too, with work and all." she explained.

"Oh, so would the two of you be joining us this year?" Eliza asked as she turned around again and smiled at Lena. "You know, the more the merrier is usually our way with things for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, um, that's so nice of you Mrs. Danvers –" Lena started to say before Eliza asked her to just call her by her first name. "Right, Eliza, but I…" she went on looking down at her hands again as she played around with her bracelet, "My Thanksgiving plans usually involve working, and speaking for Kate, she doesn't really celebrate Thanksgiving."

Eliza looked at Lena with genuine warmth and shook her head. "Dear, the holidays shouldn't be spent working. If you don't have any other plans, please join us. Bring Kate too, it would be a nice way to thank her for her gesture with the car."

Lena smiled, looking at Kara uncertainly. "I'll think about it and let Kara know." Lena replied before she reached for her bag on the kitchen island. "I should probably go, I still do have to drop by Kate's." she explained. "It was nice meeting you Eliza."

"It was nice meeting you too, dear." Eliza replied.

Kara walked Lena to the door wordlessly, "I _will_ think about your mom's invite but…" Lena started to say.

"No pressure, but please don't spend Thanksgiving alone. I'll have Jess call me if you show up in your office."

"I didn't know you were buddies with my secretary, but thanks for letting me know in advance so I can tell her not to come in. She can't report anything she doesn't know for sure."

"We're not, but I can be very persuasive. I'm sure I can convince one of your security guards to let me know." Kara replied with a chuckle. "And our talk will be continued, I promise. Because I do have things to say too, I just… I don't have the words yet…" she explained, keeping her voice down low.

Lena smiled. "Enjoy your time with your family for now Kara. Don't over think it." Lena replied and then she was off.

Kara sighed as she closed the door before turning around marching towards Alex with a determined look. "Kate Kane? Really? Last time I checked, you didn't like her. Alex, what did you do?"

Alex shrugged. "Nothing. We talked, well, mostly." she replied as she tried to feign innocence.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Eliza then asked, jumping into the conversation.

"She's a weapons company heiress." Kara provided as an explanation.

"My Kara, you've got interesting friends. A weapons heiress and a _Luthor_." Eliza commented.

"Lena's not like her family." Kara immediately said in defense.

"I could tell." Eliza commented a she looked thoughtful for a minute. "There's something about her. But I seem to have a lot to catch up on, haven't I?" she then asked.

Kara exchanged looks with Alex and bit her lips.

They were in for a long day ahead of them.

* * *

 

It was, despite her mom's arrival that day, the lack of sleep, and one very _colorful_ talk earlier to bring her mom up to speed, a surprisingly quiet day for Alex.

Kara had volunteered to do some last minute shopping for some grocery items that their mom needed that both Alex and Kara forgot. Her mom was at Kara's preparing dinner, Winn and James were already invited but the two decided to hit the streets tonight just in case.

J'onn was being his usual grumpy self when Alex brought up the topic of Thanksgiving, saying that someone had to keep an eye on things. He had, at the very least, mellowed out a bit on M'gann being a White Martian, with him reaching out to Alex to talk about the possibility that maybe Clark and Kate had been right and she should be given the chance to explain herself or at least become an asset.

Maggie was busy with work – something like minor altercation between two teens wearing realistic alien makeup that caused a whole lot of fiasco downtown – and while Alex was tempted to spend some time with – _Her girlfriend? No, not_ yet _. Maybe sometime soon…? –_ the person she's dating, she wanted to have a moment's time to clear her head to just be and take it all in, hence why she stopped by the dive bar for a drink.

Plus, she may or may not be deathly nervous to spend time alone with her mom in Kara's apartment because she still hasn't exactly figured out how to tell her about Maggie, because she definitely wanted to, she just wasn't sure how to start.

And she didn't want to spend time with Maggie while mulling over the 'how to tell your mom' part because, well, it just reminds her of what she needed to do.

This was more than just a step in the right direction for her and Maggie after all – because how can they even start out a relationship when she can't even tell her mom of all people about this amazing woman she was seeing?

And Alex knew, there was more to it than that too.

It was about _herself_. About not hiding a part of who she was to the person who brought her to this world and raised her. About opening up to her family.

Telling Kara had been the most difficult thing to do for Alex, because telling Kara made it real.

She couldn't even say the words, in the end it had been Kara who asked her if that's what she was saying.

Because it was like if she said it, if she said it out loud to her then Alex couldn't take it back. It was real and out in the open that she was gay.

In the end she was simply thankful for the heavens literally sending Kara down to her. Having Kara on her side made it a whole lot easier.

And in the end she was thankful she told Winn and James too. Telling them had been a whole lot easier, simpler. In a way it was mostly because of the strength that Kara being there for her gave her. It did help that James was a great guy and Winn too.

So much has happened since the morning she decided to tell Kara and Alex felt both that nervousness and excitement to tell her mom.

Really, it would just go down to how she tells it. She struggled a little – oh who was she kidding, _a_ _lot_ – with telling Kara, and with Winn and James it sort of just came up when they started teasing her about the date that Kate referred to when she was also teasing her.

"Anything else I can get for you, Alex? A sympathetic ear from your barkeep, perhaps? It was something those people in shows Winn watched did." Mon-El then asked, as he made his way to join Alex. It was also a slow day for his day job as it seemed.

"I'm good." Alex then replied, deciding that strongly sticking to one drink would be the wise.

"I, on the other hand, could sure use one." Kate then said as she pulled herself up the bar stool next to Alex.

"Your usual poison then, Ms. Kane?" Mon-El asked, trying to evoke the charisma of and character of a nineteen fifty's saloon barkeep as best he could that Alex was a little amused by it.

Kate simply waived her hand and Alex assumed that meant 'yes' because Mon-El instantly knew which drink she wanted.

"What are you here drinking for, shouldn't you be with your mom?" Kate asked.

"I, well, I'm kind of nervous. I haven't exactly… well… I've asked Maggie this but how did you come out to your mom?" Alex then asked, surprised at how easy she found it was to talk to Kate now that she was sure that she was on their side.

"Come out?" Mon-El then asked confused as he handed Kate her drink.

"Remember a few days ago when you asked me out and I told you I'm not your type? It's got something to do with that. Why don't you go see if anyone else needs anything, Mon-El?" Kate replied with a pleasant smile and the Daxamite took his leave.

"Wait, _he_ hit on you?" Alex asked amused.

"Not the first guy you've met who tried." Kate mumbled with a sigh before taking a sip of her drink. Her chin was immediately on the palm of her hands as she finished the glass of scotch in one gulp looking at the surface of the bar with almost blank eyes and Alex felt she had crossed the line.

The night before, Kate had talked about her father remarrying a few years after her mom had passed away, how she lost purpose and fell into a depression after getting discharged, how she was almost mugged in a dark alleyway and while she defended herself successfully, the Batman showed up anyways and in the end he did save her life. The whole encounter had woken something up inside of her, a sense of purpose.

She talked about how she felt alive whenever she was on the rooftops of Gotham, how her father set up fierce training regimens for her and how she worked as a part of teams for undocumented missions even before she donned her suit.

She even talked about the time she stabbed Bruno Mannheim, pulling the knife he used to stab her in the chest as an attempt to sacrifice her in some stupid ritual. "Unfortunately Agent Danvers, as much as I've done therapy, I'm not in the best shape I once was, but I'm still doing this because of the purpose I found in it. Because of the loss I once felt, losing my mom and my sister. I guess it's the scars we bear, the pain we feel that shape us all in the end, Alex." she remembered Kate mentioning the night before – really it was around three or four in the morning after she endlessly reassured Alex she understood why she was fiercely protective of Kara.

But try as Alex probe that night to ask about her sister, Kate didn't budge.

Instead she had the same look she had in her eyes at the very moment Alex asked her about her mom.

Like she had remembered something she both wanted to keep in her memories and forget at the same time.

Alex was about to take her question back when Kate took a deep breath and smiled.

And Alex honestly thought she would never see heartbreak in her eyes instead of the usual smugness she had.

"I never did. She died before that." Kate said when she finally replied.

"Your dad then?" Alex asked, changing the topic a little. If she took a one-eighty-turn from it, she knew Kate would notice. Considering they've only managed to find stable ground with each other last night, Alex figured, it would be best not to cause anyone distress.

"Oh, you already know." Kate replied, recovering a little with a smile on her face and Alex simply met with a look of confusion. "I got discharged."

"He didn't know before that." Alex then said realizing what Kate had meant and the redhead nodded.

"I understand where you're coming from Alex." Kate said with a deep breath and a sympathetic smile. "When my father found out, I was afraid he'd be disappointed in me, I threw away my chance at following his footsteps and all but that's not what happened. It was the longest five seconds of my life, he didn't even blink. Then he said he was actually proud that I was true to myself and that I didn't lie to just save myself. He said that my mother would have been proud too. I upheld honor and integrity, values they've always tried to teach me and my sister when we were younger. Honestly, I think he had a harder time accepting what I _do_ at night. As for my stepmother, well, I never really cared much about what she thought. Honestly, I enjoy her squirm a little when I attend galas in a tux."

Alex chuckled at the last comment and nodded. "Good, then I guess I've had practice coming out to my mom then. I came out as a DEO agent last Thanksgiving." she commented and Kate laughed a little.

"I see you have traditions to keep." Kate replied with a chuckle. "You don't owe anyone anything but I can see she's very important to you, Alex, so if you know you can't live without telling her, then tell her. I see you and Kara, and I see the kind of people you two are. I'd like to believe that it was partially thanks to your mom."

Alex smiled, feeling a little bit lighter, still nervous, but lighter. "I didn't think you thought highly of me, Kane."

"Don't flatter yourself Agent Danvers." she replied with a chuckle. "But I see what you have with your sister, I see you with your friends and J'onn, and I see how you are with Mags." Kate replied. "If you care a lot about what your mom thinks or would say or do, I think it means you have something special with her that you're afraid to lose. It's what makes me think she's quite the woman."

Alex simply nodded to that before she finished her drink and turned to face Kate just as she waived Mon-El for another drink. Somehow Alex could hear what Kate didn't chose to say.

_Tell her what I never got to tell mine. Share to her a part of your story mine never saw._

Alex stood up, wanting to say something more regarding Kate's lack of opening up about anything that revolved around her sister and her mom – other than her vague explanations that is – as Alex thought it was her way of reaching out and moving past their initial rocky relationship.

Kate made her an offer last night, after all, and while Alex was still mulling over it, she figured she could make her one too.

She looked like she could use another friend.

But before any words could come out of her mouth some weird thing appeared above the bar. A strange looking cloud that sounded like it was about to tear apart the space surrounding it.

Kate jumped out of her seat, just like most of the scant patrons present, watching the cloud earnestly, expecting something to come out of it.

But nothing.

It collapsed upon itself as sudden as it had appeared.

"Tachyons?" Kate asked under her breath, drawing Alex's attention away from the spot whatever the hell that strange cloud was and to the redheaded heiress.

"Well look at you Kane, didn't even think you knew the word." Alex teased and Kate simply rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

"That you didn't think I'd know only drives the point home of how good I actually am." Kate then replied before taking a sip of her new glass, Mon-El casually sliding it down the bar towards her as he tried to impress whoever girl he was talking to. "Before you leave, Agent Danvers, please know I'm still waiting for your answer."

"I haven't forgotten although I haven't really been thinking about it." Alex simply replied and left.

With everything seemingly happening at once in their lives, she thought about focusing on one problem at a time.

She took a deep breath and focused on making her back to Kara's place. She should take the opportunity now that Kara was out to talk with her mother.

* * *

 

Lena rarely does it, but that night she just straight up collapsed into her bed as soon as she got home.

It's been a long day.

It started out great, amazing really. Lena's fingers traced her lips as she closed her eyes, the memory of Kara's kisses still lingering behind. And it did things to her, it really did.

It moved her, it broke her and healed her. It breathed new life to her, something she never really thought was possible.

She felt absolutely happy.

Because even when she wasn't sure of what it was that's going on between her and Kara, she knew one thing for sure. Kara Danvers felt something for her.

Lena drew out a shaky breath, remembering how she ended up crashing into Kate's bedroom right after, feeling both like a girl on Christmas day excited for her present – except Lena never really got the chance to feel that way – and a teenager who just had their first kiss with their crush, excited to tell their best friends.

Kate had been tired and grumpy, and she might have even tossed a pillow at her while begging Lena to let her sleep in peace, before finally succumbing to her friend's happiness.

Before of course every bit of happiness was damped by new news regarding Cadmus as Kate talked about what Dick and Barbara found out.

To this day, Lena wasn't sure what possessed her that night her mother had come in to see her for the first time in National City. It was right after what had happened at the children's gala, Lena feeling good about actually being able to do something for a Luthor to help a Super once. Perhaps she was caught up with all of it when her mother explained that a friend of hers had been working with her to take control of Cadmus. Now Lena had been alarmed, hearing the news broadcasts and hate that the organization had been spreading, but Lillian looked genuine with her concern in turning Cadmus as a force for good, explaining to her that if Lena was looking for a fresh start then she was too, and perhaps they could turn Cadmus into a pioneer in the field of bioengineering. Lex had been interested in acquiring it from the government after it was being mishandled, that was really clue number two, but his obsessions had gotten the best of him and instead focused his time on causing destruction all over the world.

And she believed her. She could have stopped her then, could have stopped Lillian by not allowing her access to the funds that Lex had set aside for projects he never pursued when he was still the good big brother she knew, and perhaps Cadmus could have crumbled on its own.

Perhaps, just perhaps, she could have been happy for the first time in her life without anything weighing down on her.

"You know that's not true. Lillian would have simply turned to different allies, possibly formed fearsome alliances with organizations just like Cadmus hell-bent on spreading fear, hate, and crime." Kate had said to her a few nights ago when she first confided in her about it. The heiress repeated the same words earlier too.

"You're a good person Lena, but sometimes people make mistakes. No matter how smart or careful they are. I know I've made a lot." Kate had added that late morning. "But please, don't let what they are and what they have become taint who _you_ are. We're not meant to be defined by our families, blood relation or not."

"I know that, but I made a mistake, and I thought I could live with it but…" Lena had argued.

"But what's happening between you and Kara, it's bringing it back to the surface of your mind? It's making you regret things you should have seen coming? Lena, stop regretting the past. What we need is to focus on how to stop Cadmus now. Besides, didn't you cut off access to the funds already?" Kate had said, reassuring her.

"Yes, but I was still a fool." Lena had replied, the same thoughts echoing in her mind that evening. She should have seen it coming.

Like mother, like son, after all.

If anything, it fueled her desires to bring Cadmus down from the inside even more.

More than for Kara, but for herself too. It was her way of saving herself.

The following morning was mostly a blur to Lena.

And she couldn't help but blame Cadmus too.

It was Thanksgiving, and Lena was pretty much certain that she had still been going back and forth on her decision regarding Eliza Danvers' invitation to join them. Her mom had spoken to her briefly as she dropped by that morning, saying that it was Thanksgiving after all, a time that should be spent with family.

Lena had declined whatever it was her mom had offered they do together, she really couldn't remember what Lillian had said. Like it was somewhat muted down by the fuzziness that was in her head.

Lillian had told her that someone would be visiting, someone who worked for Westfield and not to worry about anything. Lena had wanted to ask her what she meant… or perhaps she did but was not met with any answer?

Either way there was a 'someone' who entered her office about an hour later in a huge cloak and big hat, masking any sign of who they were.

Although Lena was now reconsidering that it was more of a 'what' than a 'who'.

It wasn't how she had expected to see Kara that day, but before Lena could really protest, she had woken up in Supergirl's arms, being carried over to her couch all as Lena tried to piece together what had happened to her.

And she found it incredibly difficult to focus much on anything other than the comforting 'S' on Supergirl's chest with the pounding feeling in her head.

"Ms. Luthor, please, tell me what happened? Are you okay?" she heard Supergirl ask over and over again as she had her lie down on the couch. Lena sat up as she studied every line on Kara's face, the conflict of anger and concern in her eyes, the strain in her voice as she tried to restrain her tone and control herself. "Who did this to you?" she finally asked as she knelt down Lena's side, the anger starting to win out as Lena noticed the low growl in the way she spoke.

"I don't exactly know." Lena finally managed to say as she tried to get up forcing herself to remember anything relevant. "I don't even remember what happened." she added, her hands rubbing her temples as the throbbing ache kept coming and going. "But may I ask you Supergirl, what are you doing here? Fly by during a patrol on the city?"

"No, there was some trouble downtown, crime doesn't have any holidays." Supergirl replied, her brows knitted together as she focused on Lena.

 _Is she scanning me to make sure I'm okay?_ Lena started to wonder, remembering how Lex noted in his files that Superman could see through walls.

And Lena had been very tempted to ask her question out loud, except a brief flash of a memory had popped up in her mind and she found herself blurting out "Horns!"

"Horns?" Supergirl asked looking at Lena confused.

"It was… um… well there was an alien. There's barely anyone in the building, even my assistant's out today, mostly just security personnel but he somehow managed to get past them. It was an alien w-with grey skin and horns." Lena then explained.

"Grey alien with horns?" Supergirl repeated, sounding unsure. "I'll keep a look out for him, but do you know what they were after?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Lena replied. It was still just bits and pieces in her head, the alien looked distinguished, somewhat, in his manners, apologizing in advance with what he was about to do.

But Lena couldn't remember what it was he did.

Just that her head was hurting like hell.

Supergirl simply nodded. "Lay down a bit and rest, Ms. Luthor. Even better, I can drop you off anywhere you'd like. It's Thanksgiving, you ought to be with family."

"Sadly, Supergirl, my family consists of a brother in prison and an insufferable mother who probably has something diabolical up in her sleeves. " Lena said, and she really wished she was joking there.

"That's not all the family one person can have." Supergirl replied and somehow Lena was sure it was mostly just Kara talking, giving Lena a subtle nudge to remember the offer to join their little get together at Kara's place.

She was, after all, invited by the mother of the girl she liked herself.

"Thank you Supergirl, but I don't suppose you drive…" Lena then started to say in response.

"No, but I can fly you where you need to be when you're feeling better." Kara replied with a smile, interrupting Lena.

"Yes, but I'm not particularly fond of flying." Lena admitted. "I'm considering what you said, though."

"Good." Supergirl then replied. "Although I would feel better to stick around and make sure whatever it was that attacked you won't come back. Lena, if your mother is up to something..."

"Don't worry Supergirl, if I find something, you'll know. One way or another." Lena replied, her thoughts on getting her message through using Kate once she figures out what Cadmus was up to with this little incident.

"That, well, that wasn't what I meant." Kara replied, casting her glance down the floor before her eyes met Lena's once again. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

"I will be." Lena said.

Supergirl had looked rather hesitant to leave as Lena decided to lay back down on the couch, "I'll check on you within the hour and see if I can find the alien who attacked you." she decidedly said before making her way to the balcony.

"Don't worry Supergirl. I'll have a friend pick me up before you come back. I think taking your advice might be good. I think you might just be right about what you said about family." Lena replied and if anything, the smile pulling at the corner of Kara's lips before she left made all the trouble of their little early day encounter a bit more bearable.

* * *

 

"I'm not going to lie, Lena, this isn't how I imagined my afternoon will pan out." Kate replied as she parked her car just outside of Kara's building. "I should be getting straight to work, or you know, getting some sleep before I get to work. Besides, you should be resting."

"This is resting." Lena simply replied. "Look, if my mother plans a citywide attack with whatever the hell it was she and her cohorts plan to do with that stunt in my office earlier, I would very gladly stop her myself." she argued. "I just want my life to fit some semblance of normalcy for at least half a day because all this plotting, conspiracies, and obsessions are starting to get on my nerves. Besides, I promised Kara, well Supergirl, I would be here."

"And the reason behind you dragging me here?" Kate asked, still not making any attempts to budge.

Because, no, she will _not_ be dragged into an apartment full of people she had to see with regards to her mission with the DEO. Well, that was reason number one.

Reason number two was that while she was getting on better terms with Alex Danvers, it still felt really weird to go to a Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment of the sister of the girl her ex was currently dating.

"I wasn't the only one invited, you were too. Did I not tell you that Kara's mom extended the invite to you? Especially with the car you lent to their services yesterday." Lena explained.

"Lena…" Kate tried to protest yet again but Lena tried to shoot her a pleading look.

"Are you really going to leave me to the _wolves_?"

"They are not 'wolves'." Kate replied with a chuckle.

"Yes, but they are people my family have wronged, and do you really have to make me spell it out to you?" Lena then asked as she started playing with the watch on her wrist.

She was nervous.

 _Very_ nervous.

Kate took a deep breath, "Fine. But I'm leaving an hour after dinner. _Someone_ needs to keep track on what Cadmus is up to."

Kate had wanted to protest and hate every minute of it. She wasn't really in a _thankful_ sort of mood, and really, the holidays simply lost all its charms for her since that fateful day when her life had changed. But she really couldn't keep much of her protests.

Eliza Danvers was warm, and friendly, and no she wasn't as strict as her mother was but something about her did remind Kate of how her family once was.

James and Winn were gathered in the living room, Alex giving them a stern lecturing about behaving properly what with Lena joining them for Thanksgiving dinner. It was clear from as soon as the door opened to let them in that the two were a bit surprised to seeing a Luthor join their little party. Winn was mostly just surprised that Kate and Alex managed to ease the tension between them. James, however, seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to the presence of the younger sister of the man who tried killing his best friend over and over again. Kate kept an eye on them all while Eliza was entertaining her and Lena in the kitchen, trying to distract them as Kara used her heat-vision to cook the turkey to perfection.

Two more people arrived just as they were about to gather round to eat, Maggie and Mon-El.

Eliza immediately warmed up to the detective and Kate shot Alex a knowing glance. "I see you told your mom. I'm guessing she insisted in inviting Maggie over?"

Alex simply shrugged to acknowledge Kate's question before nodding towards Kara and Lena, Kara trying to get Mon-El to behave himself in front of the CEO and not ask any weird questions – anything that would give away that he was not human – and perhaps stop trying to 'charm' her. "How successful do you think Mon-El would be in asking Lena out?"

Kate simply shook her head and laughed just as Maggie joined them, immediately reaching out to grab Alex's hand. "You hate Thanksgiving. What are you doing here?"

"I was apparently invited. I would've said no but Lena wasn't feeling too well when she asked me to pick her up and drop her off here." Kate explained. It wasn't far from the truth, Lena still had a bit of a headache when Kate got to L-Corp.

Kate tried to stop herself from thinking too much about it though, it wasn't the right place and time to discuss and obsess about 'work'.

As they gathered round the table – it was a bit of a close setting to get everyone to fit in, with Winn pulling up extra chairs for them to use – Eliza talked about their little Thanksgiving tradition of going round the table and saying what they were thankful for each year before asking Kate, Lena, and Maggie if they had any traditions they wanted to add to the table.

"Like I said before, the holidays were mostly spent at the desk and working for me so I'm afraid I can't really contribute." Lena replied.

"When I do go home, it's usually busy. Everyone's there, my cousins, my aunts and uncles. Kind of just your typical way of celebrating Thanksgiving I guess. Nothing really special." Maggie then said, taking her turn to speak up. "It kind of feels like this, to be honest."

And when Kate remained silent, Eliza decided to prompt her, "How about you, Kate?"

"Oh, my family throws a party. A huge one. My step-mother lives for planning parties. I just... I don't like celebrating Thanksgiving though."

"How come? Do people have an option not to celebrate Thanksgiving?" Mon-El then asked, genuinely concerned.

"Not everyone does, especially if you live in other countries." Kate replied. '"I just… I ran out of things to be thankful for." Kate replied honestly before smiling away the sadness that was starting to take over her, "Although I have to admit, lately I think might be wrong about that." she then said.

Eliza looked up, wanting to say something before they went on with their traditions, however a strange cloud started to appear on top of the dining table. Kate had kicked her chair away from the table while Kara stood up as a reflex and pulled Lena's chair away from the source. Alex and Maggie managed to stand up, their hands to the weapons they had concealed, Winn and James managing to stumble out of their chairs while Mon-El stood up and walked towards it a little to inspect it.

Eliza stood up and reached out to Mon-El to make sure he doesn't do something he might regret. Everyone else had their eyes on what looked like some rift forming in space before it had disappeared. James and Winn exchanged knowing looks, Maggie turned to face Alex looking confused and Alex simply shrugged. Mon-El looked excited and intrigued "Is Thanksgiving normally like this?" he managed to ask.

"No." James, Winn, Eliza, Alex, Maggie, and Kara chorused as a reply.

"Was that… that looked like… Tachyons!" Lena said in awe as she processed what just happened. "That looked like a rift in the time and space continuum. I've read a recent paper on how if Tachyons weren't just a hypothetical particle that can travel faster than light we could potentially use it for time-travel… or even… Oh my God, do you think… do you think that's someone trying to reach out from the future or an alternate universe?" Lena went on, looking rather excited.

Kate knew the look in her eyes just too well, she was geeking out.

"You know about Tachyons?" Kara asked with a soft smiled as she turned to face Lena while Alex, James, and Winn were all trying to figure out if the source of whatever the cloud that appeared was from a friend or foe.

Lena simply shrugged, as if saying 'duh' while Kate tried to study James and Winn's more nervous exchange of looks.

They knew something.

And Kate wanted to know if this had anything to do with Cadmus.

"Well, that was an exciting turn of events." Eliza then said before clapping her hands together, "But how about we get back to dinner before the food gets cold. We can all hypothesize what's happening later."

Kate threw another glance at James and Winn, with Winn leaning over to Alex to whisper something. Alex seemed to relax a little, making Kate relax as well. If Alex wasn't worried about what just happened, then perhaps she could allow herself to enjoy too.

At least for a little while.

* * *

 

The holiday weekend was in full swing but Alex still found herself at the DEO base that Friday. Eliza was checking in on J'onn after Alex's insistence to run a follow up to make sure his treatments were working well. It didn't hurt to get a second opinion.

Alex found herself smiling just outside the medical bay. Her talk with her mom two days ago had panned out well, although she still couldn't believe that her earlier talk with her that morning ended up cluing her mom in with what she had wanted to talk about in the first place. It wasn't her fault she couldn't stop talking about Maggie, but apparently how she had been talking about the detective was the dead giveaway.

"You never talked about anyone that way, honey, it's what made it obvious." Eliza had said as she pulled Alex into a hug, comforting her daughter and sharing her happiness with her. Alex couldn't help but start getting teary-eyed as she spoke, afraid that she was disappointing her mom but Eliza's words whisked all her worries away.

"And I'm glad you told me. I'm glad you have someone in your life that can make you feel that way." her mom added when she finally released her. "Now tell me about Maggie, what's she like? Should we invite her to dinner tomorrow or is she going home?" she had asked just in time for Kara to get back home.

And now Alex couldn't help but think how rather adventurous her mom's visit had been.

First, they had to explain Cadmus, Kate Kane's involvement – because how else could they explain why they were friends and Kara's curious looks at the sudden change in her relationship with Alex – and what's been going on. In retaliation, of course, Alex gave Kara a hard time explaining to their mom about how she became friends with Lena, teasing her sister.

Second, well, was the whole ordeal with the strange cloud that kept appearing above them. James and Winn had to explain when Maggie, Kate, and Lena had finally left what happened the prior year when she and J'onn were on the run. Alex remembered her sister talking about The Flash and how he was from another earth and Winn suspected that it could be that something was up from his earth or another earth somewhere and it was affecting them somehow.

Alex was slightly worried about it only because with everything they've been trying to keep a handle on, any alternate universe chaos isn't something she would welcome at the moment.

"Agent Danvers." Kate said as she walked towards the DEO agent, catching Alex's attention as she broke away from her own thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, curious to see what she was doing there. Kate usually only dropped by when there were Cadmus-related problems.

"I wanted to make sure that whatever it was Tachyon-related wasn't something Cadmus was involved in. I did my own research last night and found nothing so I checked with Winn." Kate explained.

"Oh, that, well, that makes sense." Alex replied, breathing a bit easier.

"Listen, Agent Danvers, I have matters I need to take care of back at home so I'll be gone for a few days." Kate explained. "Including trying to talk down someone who may or may not be a bit paranoid and disappointed with some decisions I've been making." she grumbled before taking a deep breath. "But I would love to get an answer back from you when I return."

"I'm still thinking about it." Alex replied. "But sure, hopefully I have an answer for you when you get back." Alex replied and Kate smiled.

"Good to hear." the vigilante replied before turning to leave. "Call me if you need back up while I'm away." she added just as she left Alex with her thoughts once again.

Alex took a deep breath herself and focused.

She had a lot to think about.

* * *

 

Kara still couldn't believe her luck that despite the weirdness of a time-space portal – or whatever the hell it was that popped up over her dinner table the day before – that Thanksgiving went relatively smooth. If anything it seemed to ease up some of the tension, what with Lena launching in an entirely scientific conversation with Eliza, Winn, and Alex from Tachyons to time travel and space ventures and…

Oh, how her eyes glowed as she chatted away, relaxing a bit and opening up about the things that she loved, about her ideas and her passion.

And really, Kara just couldn't help but look proudly at how Lena was just being her usual self around Kara's family.

All while Kate and Maggie seemed to be eyeing how she was looking at Lena the whole time, which admittedly made Kara a little bit self-conscious but she couldn't help it. When Lena was just herself she simply shined, so how could Kara even take her eyes away from her?

Sure, she had to keep Mon-El at bay from his advances on Lena but thankfully Kate managed to take care of him for her, promising to introduce him to a Talokite that might just be his type while Lena was busy talking with Eliza.

And sure, she had to chastise James on the side for a good five minutes for the not so warm welcome with Lena but thankfully he changed his tune and tried.

'Try' being the keyword. He was polite if and when they needed to interact but he kept mostly away from her. "I'm sorry Kara, she seems nice but it's just hard to, I don't know, be good and gracious around her when all I can remember is all the times that her brother tried to kill Superman." he had reasoned once Lena was gone.

"But Lena isn't Lex." Kara defended defiantly.

"I know. It'll just take some time." James answered truthfully and Kara nodded.

 _Best not tell him that they kissed a few times already._ Kara thought to herself. Not that anyone else knew about anything really. The only one who knew anything remotely close to what happened was Alex, and all Alex knew was that she definitely had blossoming feelings for Lena and that they almost kissed.

Boy, oh boy would Kara enjoy telling her sister that _other_ things have happened.

And she will. Kara knew she definitely had to talk to someone about everything she's been feeling.

She just needs to get herself together.

Although, Kate Kane seemed to have an idea or two of things that _have_ happened, what with all the knowing looks she kept shooting at Kara's direction every time she spoke to Lena, not that they talked about anything serious, Kara kept the conversations light. She knew she had to talk to Lena at some point and properly acknowledge whatever it was going on between them and what Kara wanted, but Thanksgiving dinner with family just wasn't the occasion to do so.

Still, she could talk to Lena about anything really, and the whole world would disappear - and apparently it was obvious and quite noticeable to _some_ people.

But she really couldn't do much about it. Kara couldn't help but wonder how easy for it to happen really.

Or for that matter, how easy it was for Lena to pop in her mind and hold it captive, whether or not she was thinking of something else.

Kara was on her way back from the DEO to check on things, making a quick pit stop by the grocery store, when she noticed a weird haze of lights from outside her apartment window. She wished she could super-speed her way up but with many people out on the streets, she decided to take the slow approach, skipping over a few steps as she made her way up the stairs.

If it was the same warping cloud thing of Tachyons that appeared the day before, then she figured it could simply just disappear again. But Kara was most definitely curious to see what was causing it.

A part of her mind immediately went to Barry Allen, the Flash, but that was mostly just because the last time she's seen anything like that cloud was when she helped Barry get back to his earth.

And soon enough she found herself right.

"Barry." Kara said almost breathlessly as she made her way inside of her own apartment. Barry was standing right in the middle of her living room with a guy she's never seen before.

"Hey." he said rather awkwardly but Kara didn't give much notice to it. She was just excited to see her friend once more.

"Barry, I knew it was you… I knew it was you with that weird space portal thing! Hi!" she said once again, setting her things down and going over for a hug.

"Hi, yeah, took a couple of tries... this is my friend Cisco." Barry then said.

"Well, friend is a lose term, we work together." Cisco had said before reintroducing himself. Cisco took a few steps away to get a good look of the apartment, noting how closely similar their earths were, while Barry decided it was best to just cut to the chase.

"Okay, yeah, do you, do you remember last year when I helped you out and you promised you'd do the same for me." he started to say and Kara could see where this was going.

Her friend needed her help, and if the Flash needed her help so much that he sought her ought by jumping through different earths, then it was definitely something serious.

"What are we up against?" Kara asked without any hesitations.

It was time for the Flash and Supergirl to team up once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're def going to address this Supercorp kissing thing, aka the lack of the ability to stop kissing each other, more next chapter, I promise! Plus more revelations? ;)
> 
> As for the Talokite comment, somewhere in the DC comics continuity, Mon-El (Lar Gand) married his fellow Legionnaire (that's right, Mon-El was a member of the Legion of Superheroes) called Shadow Lass (Tasmia Mallor).


	15. Dawn of a New Terror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the support so far! Here's chapter 15 featuring a brief POV for Kara, a whole lot of updates on Cadmus' plans (aka exposition?), and the arrival of a new threat (because, you know, one threat is not enough).
> 
> Oh my Gosh, we're half way through the fic! 15 chapters down, 15 more to go! Thanks for all the support so far! Thoughts, comments, reviews are always welcomed.

"What are you doing?" Felicity asked Kara as she walked towards her. The two were hanging out at the Arrow-cave in Star City, just as Barry checked to make sure the city was safe. Cisco and Team Arrow's own Curtis were currently trying to fiddle with the device they retrieved to figure out where Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, his sister Thea Queen, and their allies John Diggle, Roy Palmer, and Sara Lance were taken by the Dominators. Kara had already argued that they were probably in a ship somewhere in space, but everyone wanted to be sure.

Besides, they wanted to know where exactly in space, in all of its vastness, they could be.

The rest of the team were with Barry, doing quick rounds to make sure that things were quiet in the city while Kara decided to stick behind in case anyone needed her help elsewhere.

Kara sighed, she was currently trying to figure out how to tell Alex where she was. She didn't exactly leave a note behind, just a quick voicemail saying Barry Allen showed up and he needed her help. She may have also promised to be back by dinner for sister's night but knowing Alex, she would start freaking out if she couldn't reach Kara. Especially since Kara's officially been in another earth for two days now. Barry did say that when he was in Earth-38, he was gone for only barely a few minutes in theirs, so maybe Kara could return barely a few minutes after she left.

And while Kara did have her phone with her to hopefully use, it was all but futile.

For one thing, she surprisingly had reception. Except, of course, when she tried calling Alex Danvers, some other guy answered the call saying that there was no Alex Danvers that can be reached through that number.

Which suggested that while Alex's number did exist, it belonged to someone else on that earth.

The second thing was that even if Kara could call Alex, boy oh boy would the charges for her phone bill skyrocket. Kara may surprisingly be still within coverage area, but she doesn't think that inter-dimensional calls would come cheap.

Kara sighed. "Just, nothing much. Kinda' worried that my sister's freaking out right now." Kara replied as she was fiddling with her phone.

"You have a sister?" Felicity asked, genuinely curious, her tone seemed to imply that she was thinking of Kara having a Kryptonian sister.

Kara laughed and nodded. "Yeah, my adoptive sister. She's great. I bet she could've helped us a lot." she then replied.

Felicity nodded. "I'm sure she's great." she then said before Felicity gave her a teasing smile. "You sure it's just about your sister though? I saw you trying to locate a few people on the computer earlier. Sorry about that by the way, my curiosity got the best of me." she continued to prod.

Kara furiously blushed as her thoughts were instantly taken over by one Lena Luthor. Although she's heard that a Lex Luthor does exist in that universe, what with seeing a few LexCorp – definitely not LuthorCorp or L-Corp – buildings scattered around on her way to Star City from Central City, her little side investigations on their down time produced no search results for Lena. But then again, Kara Danvers also doesn't exist in that earth so she figured – since Barry argued that one just had to have a doppelganger on different earths – that the two of them may be different people with different lives in the earth she was in now. Somehow Kara couldn't help but wonder if she's even met this earth's Lena, and if they did how? If they met are they, well, _falling_ for each other? Friends at the very least? Or were they living separate lives? Barry also said that in the earths he's visited, he seemed to always find his way to be with Iris, so maybe… just maybe… they could too? This time without the complications of their families, an age old war between Lena's adoptive brother and Kara's cousin.

And Kara, despite being gone for two days, couldn't help but be homesick. She missed Alex, she missed her friends, and she most definitely missed Lena.

Lena who may or may not be in danger at that moment from her brother. Alex who may or may not be dealing with some crisis at the DEO with their friends.

And of course Cadmus was brought to mind and it wasn't really helping Kara at all.

"Oh God, I feel like I opened a can of worms there." Felicity commented when Kara accidentally crushed her phone in her hands, her thoughts overwhelming her, especially the ones Cadmus-related.

"Rao!" Kara then exclaimed a she helped Felicity pick up the pieces. "Sorry, just distracted by a lot of things."

"Don't worry Supergirl, I'm sure we'll solve our little alien problem soon and you can go home. And don't worry, if you need us, well, we'll figure something out to come and help you." Felicity then said, handing Kara some of the remains of her phone.

"That helps. Thanks." Kara earnestly replied just as Cisco and Curtis nearly short circuited whatever it was they were using.

Felicity sighed, turned around and checked on the two on whether they needed her help, leaving Kara wishing and hoping things were alright back at her earth.

* * *

"Where is Supergirl again?" she heard Batman ask on the other side of the screen. Kate was barely gone for a two days and all of a sudden she's been called for by Alex Danvers because of an 'emergency situation' aka 'Supergirl in another earth'.

That and well, when the hero was away, Cadmus came out to play.

In the last seven days – considering it was midnight, she should really say eight – Cadmus has decided to unleash a fresh army of goons with alien tech and manage to steal a few things at L-Corp's research and development facility. Lena's been keeping in close contact with Kate about that and based on how she's acting lately, Kate could only guess that she's being kept under close surveillance by the enemy, that or Lena was starting to feel like she was. She started employing tighter security measures after that little incident with the grey-skinned alien that attacked her.

Which really didn't help them at all. Her own investigations were turning fewer leads. Kate had no choice but wait for whatever information Lena had all while Oracle hacked away to try and figure out why Cadmus would need an isotope for some heavy metal and few experimental nanochips that were supposed to be used for implementing tech to help paraplegics recover some form of motor and sensory function to their lower extremities. Kate has no idea what Cadmus wants with those, though, but apparently they wanted it so they just had to have it.

"I told you already, the answer isn't going to change." Kate replied. "Besides, didn't you tell me that you and Supes once found yourselves in a different earth where you were both villains and Lex Luthor was the superhero trying to stop you?"

"Yes, but that's irrelevant." Batman replied.

"It kind of is." Kate then replied, as she leaned on her chair, Batwoman gear on except for her cowl. "It means there's an earth out there where a Luthor is actually good who _you_ trusted, and it justifies my reason of trusting Lena. At least in your eyes." Kate replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, you've gotten intel from some reformed villains of yours, well, for the length of time they stayed reformed at least. Which means you trusted them enough to follow up the leads they've given you."

Batman groaned and grumbled something before clearing his throat. "Did you figure out what the attack on her was all about? Is it what we fear? I have intel that Westfield manage to have brief contact with Lex Luthor a few days ago."

Kate took a deep breath and sighed. She took on a more serious demeanor as she pulled up files on her screen, files that the Batman could see himself. The files were from the experiments that they've found, a more broken down analysis on what they were, intel on next stages and some very confidential information that were sadly encrypted. Further probing of the information they already have, however, showed a set of files for each of the experiments that could potentially give them valuable information.

Again, though, they were heavily encrypted. Kate tried running her own software to decode the program but didn't have any luck. Winn was currently working on it extensively to help Oracle's load.

"I'm afraid it might just be. I'll let you know when we have that confirmed. Meanwhile, Lena did bring up a different kind of threat we should be aware of. Oracle's been trying to trace any remnants of kryptonite radiation in the country, she said she's trying to cast a wider net but it's a little difficult at the moment considering you've got your own things happening at Gotham."

"We really need to find those labs and shut them down. That's the only way this will end." Batman then said, his tone sounding grave. "Focus on locating all the other labs and shutting them now, if you need back-up for any city-wide attack let me know. I have both Nightwing and Red Robin on high alert for anything Cadmus related and ready to go if you need them."

"Thanks. I'm on my way to follow-up on a few leads now."

"One with _Ms. Luthor_?" Batman asked, still not entirely pleased that their most reliable source for anything Cadmus-related was a _Luthor_ playing double agent with the organization

"Yes, one with _Lena_. I told Oracle to be on standby for anything." Kate then replied before Batman nodded.

"Keep me posted." he said in his usual demeanor.

Kate sighed as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. Their main focus had been on finding Project 13 but they've never really talked about what would happen next once they find it, and she found herself being more and more concerned by this.

They know they have to stop Cadmus from using their ultimate weapon.

But what then? Will they destroy it? Hold it in stasis or keep it somewhere?

It's been a perplexing question on Kate's mind since this mission started, one she buried in her mind until the time she needed to think about it. And now one that felt so close on being answered.

Kate sighed as she stood and suited up, her thoughts still on what will happen next.

If Project 13 is near completion, based on the information they've gathered, wouldn't it mean that destroying it would break that _one_ rule they fight so hard to uphold?

It _is_ a _living_ weapon after all.

* * *

Lena leaned back on her chair, it's been a long day.

And it was an even longer night.

She's been planning on touching base with Kate but with Westfield's promise of dropping by her office again 'soon', she didn't want to pique his interest and expose Kate's secret and her own. Sure, Lex had notes, but no one else knew about those notes, only Lex did.

Even the messenger who gave it to Lena had no idea what they were, and knowing Lex the poor messenger who delivered the parcel was probably dead in a ditch somewhere.

He never really liked loose ends. And Lena was sure that until she had agreed to 'join' Cadmus, she was a loose end herself.

And now everything was coming together in a nice little knot.

Somehow the dread was coming along with it.

Lena had been anxious for days. Kara seemed to have just disappeared and the longer she was gone, the more on edge she was feeling. Kate had dropped by around lunch two days ago, the two speaking in code of what she's found out so far. Lena, however, decided to hold off on divulging everything in case Westfield had ears listening in. Kate reassured her that with the device she implanted somewhere in L-Corp – she wouldn't admit where but Lena guessed it was in the laptop she sent over as an apology for destroying her old laptop – kept them safe from Cadmus eavesdropping or hacking since it was some sort of jammer. It may or may not be mining any Cadmus relevant data too, but unless it's in the form of ones and zeroes, Oracle won't be able to tap into it, she informed Lena, letting her know that if they needed to get any information that they can't speak about, all she needed was to upload it in a secure server and Oracle would have access to it.

But Lena wanted to take extra precautions. The matter at hand they needed to discuss wasn't something to be treated lightly.

The day after the attack in her office, she received a call from Paul Westfield, wanting to meet in private with her and her mother. Lena, not wanting to taint her own living quarters by the presence of the two devils in her life proposed they meet at her office at L-Corp. There wouldn't be anyone there, except for security personnel, while friends might decide on surprisingly dropping by on her at home. Kate Kane was, after all, known to party hard during holiday weekends and the two of them had their friendship well-documented in the tabloids.

And no, Lena didn't use Kara as an example. She didn't want to draw attention to Kara Danvers, not Westfield's, and most definitely not her mother's.

She was expecting the two would be testing her patience more, that they wanted to meet for funding, or at least another vague warning of what's to come.

But she was wrong.

They arrived that day fifteen minutes later than what they had talked about, giving Lena a chance to loosen up a little with a glass of wine as she starred outside her window, over the views that her balcony provided. She had been standing up, leaning on the edge of her desk, when she heard the two walk into her office.

"I hope you had an enjoyable evening last night, my dear." Lillian immediately said as she made her way to drop her bag and her coat on a chair Lena had in front of her desk. Lena had to take a deep breath to calm herself as she set her glass down and turned to face her mother, pouring herself a drink, with Paul Westfield making himself comfortable on the couch.

Lena took another deep breath and tried to keep her composure intact before she spoke. "Let's see, all I can remember is that I had a really bad headache." she replied and Paul Westfield simply laughed at the response, Lillian turning to face Paul for an explanation.

"All necessary I'm afraid." Paul had explained. "I assume that even Supergirl suffered the same fate when you had her." he added as he addressed Lillian. And at the mention of 'Supergirl', the whole exchange had immediately taken Lena's full attention.

Whatever they did to her, whatever had happened, Kara had experienced it herself, and Lena wasn't entirely happy about it. No.

She could barely contain the anger that had been building inside of her just because of it.

"Yes, but I don't really care about what your brute did to Supergirl. You said he wouldn't hurt Lena." Lillian had replied much to Lena's own shock. Perhaps the woman did care about her in her littlest of way.

Or perhaps they still needed her, unhurt, undamaged.

"He didn't." Paul had simply replied. "I'm afraid it's all a side-effect from the probing."

"So what kind of alien do you have working with you? I remember grey skin and horns." Lena had then said, partaking in the conversation before her. Her mind had already been trying to figure out what Westfield meant by 'probing'.

Paul shook his head. "No, no, Dubbilex isn't an alien per se. And most definitely not a brute. He's, well, he's a project of Cadmus himself. A result of genetic human modifications and cloning, what we would like to call a DNAlien , a genomorph if you will. He has telepathic abilities which have been handy when it comes to one of our most prized projects." he had explained in a good-humored tone.

"You probed my mind?" Lena had asked, realizing what it meant as she tried to play her surprise and concerns as more of indignation.

Because it was then that fear had grappled her heart.

If someone from Cadmus, someone who worked in Cadmus, had probed Lena's mind, had taken a peak of her memories…

…then the certainty of her losing her little game would be all too real and inescapable.

They would _know_.

Lena's allegiance. Her little game.

Her feelings for Kara, for Supergirl…

And oh God, just the very simple truth of knowing Kara's secret made it hard for Lena to keep her cool. Because if _they_ knew… if her mother, if Westfield _knew_ …

At that time her thought had gone to Kara, igniting her worries for the Kryptonian who Lena didn't know was busy doing whatever it was that she had decided to do. The only vague excuse for her absence that Alex had given her a few days after that cursed meeting was that she was helping out family.

Lena opened her eyes and once again she was transported to her empty office, away from the memories of her mother and Westfield. She reached for the half empty bottle of wine on her desk and poured herself a drink before stepping out onto her balcony, watching the city below her, her head in her hand as she tried to process everything.

There was nothing but the sounds of the city at night, a mix of quiet and reserved noises from random sights of the city, and yet she could hear Westfield's voice as he laughed at Lena's reaction a few days ago like the conversation was happening right at that moment. Westfield had found it amusing when she had asked why on earth they needed her memories for, they still haven't even explained why they needed a sample of her blood, they simply asked for her to trust them about it. She was demanding answers because Lena knew she's played into their games to gain their trust. "Yes, I'm sorry for that. And I apologize for the secrecy, Ms. Luthor, Lena, if I may, but we needed to be sure of a few things. The memory, well, that's more complicated. Dubbilex is the only one with access to that, I'm afraid, although he's encoding your memories as he sees fit for our future use." she remembered him say.

Lena still couldn't believe her luck that whoever and whatever Dubbilex was that he didn't rat her out.

For whatever reason, she was allowed to still be alive, still continue with her little game.

Dubbilex was keeping Lena's and Kara's secrets to himself. Quite possibly Superman's too, if he was subjected to whatever the thing did as Lena had suspected. The whole thought was something that kept Lena up at night, asking herself over and over again why something that Cadmus had given life to decide to keep them safe for now.

Because that was the only reason Lena could think of why Cadmus doesn't have Kara deep within its clutches, why the group hasn't upturned both their lives.

It's because the grey-skinned being that attacked Lena had his own motives, quite possibly his own game to play, and _he_ decided that Cadmus didn't need to know about Lena, about Kara, about anything really.

" _Why_?" Lena had asked him, still resentful about what had happened.

Paul smiled, looking at both Lillian and Lena, before he chuckled. Lillian simply shook her head, she was slightly irritated herself, although Lena couldn't figure out why. "This should answer all your questions." he had replied, procuring a USB drive as he approached Lena, slipping the flash drive on her desk to hand it to her. "It's taken us a long time to get here, a very long time Lena. Both Lex and I have tasted very many failures in bringing this project to life. We are so close now. Your brother thinks it's time for you to slowly be brought into the fold." he had explained, Lena wrapping the flash drive firmly in her hands as she had kept her eyes on the man in front of her the whole time.

A part of her still needed confirmation then, she needed to know what Cadmus knew, but before she could plug in the drive to her computer Paul had continued speaking. "But that's not why we're really here. Not yet at least." he had said. "See, being so close to what you want to achieve, you become more and more careful of what to do as your next step. Project 13 is almost complete, and our new project had just begun. Taking into consideration everything we've learned so far with our efforts to have Project 13 come to fruition, I believe that we can achieve perfection with Project 14 in a shorter amount of time. However, perfection must not be rushed. Our little experiments with this rather important project had brought us to a realization of how difficult it is to get the results we want. Difficult and dangerous, considering we were working with things we cannot stabilize, at least not easily, since the materials are beyond what human innovations can handle. We had to improvise. Create side projects and all."

"And I'm guessing you're here because of a side project then?" Lena had asked.

Paul smiled, pulling out yet another drive and handing it to Lena. "Please." he had urged her on as he waved over Lena's laptop. Lena transferred the files and pulled them up to find a short clip, a few images, plans and notes all relating to a man in a bluish purple suit with shining green hands. His suit was lined with the same sickly green color and Lena could only guess that it was kryptonite that they've incorporated.

"What on earth…" was all that Lena had managed to say as she saw picture after picture and quickly scanning the files along with it.

"The man in the tube, his name is Clay Ramsay, just some low life really. We've had many failures before we reached Project 13, and as I'm sure you've figured out by now what with the news at National City having it in heavy focus the past few months, but the cyborgs that were seen fighting with Supergirl were a part of this little initiative. We tried and tried and tried to emulate Superman's powers, you see, but kept failing too. The cyborgs were poor imitation, our main project kept hitting road blocks, that's why we developed _him_." Paul had explained, as he leaned over Lena's chair. The very memory made Lena shudder.

"What Dr. Westfield is saying is that we couldn't power up the Cyborgs as efficiently as Superman can power up himself. With all the years he's interfered with your brother's plans, and with all the times your brother actually had him, the good doctor and Lex managed to study the Man of Steel a little." Lillian had then explained. She approached Lena's desk and stopped on the opposite side of Westfield. "Lex's hypothesis was that Superman's powers came from the yellow sun. Somehow, Kryptonian physiology seemed to be able to store and consume the radiation coming from it and convert it to provide them their powers. They're essentially giant solar batteries able to metabolize solar energy to fuel their abilitues and their healing factor.

"Sadly, no matter what we did, we couldn't perfectly emulate that. We've figured out a solution over the years, of course, but it is difficult to replicate. All we have is Project 13 being the perfect model, and now Project 14. While we haven't gone far with Project 14, we believe we'll be met with the same success with 13, if not more. Our initial testing did show that our _base_ for Project 14 is far more superior in terms of efficiently storing and consuming solar energy. Still, replicating the success with these two projects in terms of scaling them up would take years, bigger funding, and more manpower. We need something else that we could, say, _mass produce_ , that is as efficient as converting the powers of the yellow sun just like Superman but not as costly." her mother continued.

"But that, again, proved to be difficult." Paul had then said, taking over what Lillian was explaining. "Instead we decided to settle on something else as a power source that could be connected to our specimen as some sort of built in battery. We tried it out with our little Metallo projects, and it seemed to work. Instead of the yellow sun, we decided to use kryptonite as a power source. Unlike with Metallo, however, we had to use a greater amount of kryptonite to match even just a tenth of the Kryptonians' powers. Some of the subject's organs had started to deteriorate so we had to replace them with cybernetics, like our Cyborg Superman. Yet, despite the amount of kryptonite we had used, Dr. Abernathy, the man working with me in this project, still found it difficult to efficiently use kryptonite as a steady power source."

"Which is why we're here, my dear." Lillian had said, resting a hand on Lena's shoulders and giving it a squeeze. It's been days and yet Lena could still feel the ghost of her mother's hand on her shoulders, as if no matter how many times she scrubbed at the spot when she showered, it just wouldn't ever go away. She might have even burned the clothes she wore that day, it was the only thing she could think of to try and erase the memory, the feeling. She had committed herself to this game, this was her only way of fighting back. A way she knew would destroy Cadmus from the inside out.

But of course Lena knew that this game didn't come without sacrifices, and she knew it would cost her dearly. Her mother's hands, tainted with the blood of the many she had sacrificed for her insane cause, it had stained her, and it was taking all the strength she could muster to keep her together.

She can't lose her way, not now. And she can't lose sight of her reasons.

Even when her feelings for Kara kept complicating matters, she'll figure out a way to win through it all.

No, she simply can't afford to lose.

"Lena." she heard Kate say and sure enough Lena found Batwoman standing in her dimly lit office, keeping to the shadows. Lena walked back inside, raising her eyebrow at Kate who gave a weak chuckle. "I have many options for an entrance." she replied reading what was on her mind.

Could anyone really blame her that she's gotten used to Supergirl landing on her balcony by now?

"Good to know." Lena replied in a somber tone. She walked over a little metal box that required her fingerprints to open and took out two flash drives containing the files that Westfield handed her. "These aren't the same ones I was given." Lena then explained, choosing her words carefully. "I have them. I wanted to make sure that there was no way…"

"…they can trace it? Is this encrypted?" Batwoman asked as she safely hid the drives in her utility belts.

Lena nodded not giving anything away. "There are more than one. Their using their current studies…" she started to say before Kate raised a tiny little beeping device.

"If they bugged your office without you knowing it, this little device would jam any transmission in a stealthy way. Oracle can feed them a sound loop, not that she's doing just that. I asked her to do a quick scan of the city for anything suspicious, especially around your building, but she's not picking any transmission. You can speak freely and safely." she then said and Lena found herself releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

She pulled herself towards her chair and sat down, her head buried in her heads. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm waiting for a bomb to explode at any moment." Lena then said.

"Did they build a bomb?" Kate asked, straight to the point.

Lena shook her head. "No, but they might as well have." she said. "They're close to completion with Project 13 but they decided to move it, your intel on that was correct. I have schematics and location on two labs at Keystone City and Amnesty Bay in the files, if I were you I'd hurry on those locations. They weren't specified but I know the layouts of L-Corp facilities and their subsidiaries, so I'm certain on the location. It could be a trap, but then again, if you crack another place before you attack, we could probably get away with it, not link it to me being your source for it. Cadmus is shutting those locations down. Westfield said they're securing one of the still running labs as their main base to keep everything close, stop the raids, and stop losing _assets_. I don't know where it is yet, and I haven't tried asking. I don't want to alarm them."

Kate nodded, processing Lena's information. "And what about…?"

"Project 14?" Lena asked. "I'm still going over those files, but they're mostly retracted since they haven't had much success. All I know is they tried it three times and failed. Westfield seemed to have realized his error there, that and he would like me to be very much involved in it." Lena went on, taking a brief pause as her mind pieced together the remaining unspoken pieces of the puzzle. "I have all the info you need for Project 13, however, except for the location and whatever last phase Westfield insists is still needed."

"What's going on Lena?" Batwoman asked, not missing a beat.

"Westfield never explained the template they used on Project 13. I mean, granted we _know_ what it is based on, but to make it easier to work with… they should have combined it with a different template during splicing." Lena then explained as realization occurred.

She always had her suspicions, of course, and those suspicions about the Project were being proven true.

However, there was one thing Lena never considered.

One thing that was being made evident in her mind with all the data she was given acting her clues.

"And you said," Lena went on, "you said they wanted to keep brother and sister close…."

"Yes, but I figured…" Kate replied but Lena never let her finish.

"What if that didn't mean what we thought it meant?" Lena asked, her mind putting together the bigger picture of the work Cadmus was doing.

No, Cadmus couldn't have meant Lex and Lena literally. Sure their combined IQs could easily bring the world to its knees if they worked together, but it couldn't be it.

And it couldn't be some metaphor for another project or so. They were usually less coy about it, straightforwardly giving them names related to Superman - really, it reflects Lex's obsession with the man in question.

"It's just a hypothesis right now, I'll let you know what I find when I do find more about it, but I think we have more pressing things to address." she then said, changing her tone.

Her intuition was practically screaming at her that her suspicions were true.

But if it was, then what?

What would be her next move?

In the end, Lena knew she couldn't just stay fixated on that one thought. Cadmus was making multiple moves. They have to make theirs too.

"Right, you told me something about a K-Man?" Batwoman then asked.

"Yes. Apparently Cadmus had their hands full with _specimens_." she said, the term Westfield so freely used leaving a bad taste in her mouth as she said it. "But, while they tried working with them, using kryptonite on them backfired in a way."

"Why? What were they trying to do?" Kate then asked.

"Cadmus is expanding their Cyborg Superman project. Apparently, Superman's powers are being harvested from the yellow sun, something that _was_ in Lex's notes but I still haven't really full understood, at least the science behind it and the specifics. Lex didn't keep data on that in his journals, as you would know, just his coded ramblings on his speculations. But I digress. They wanted to replicate that aforementioned ability but with kryptonite. Cadmus had a few, well… dead Kryptonians from Fort Rozz. I don't know how they have it, I'm assuming they had a mole in the DEO back then or managed to smuggle one or two from the scene of the crime during the few times they attacked last year. Somehow, I think those poor souls arrived at Cadmus still alive." Lena explained, her thoughts going back to a video Kate showed her of a Fort Rozz Kryptonian being exposed to kryptonite.

Lena cleared her throat and focused on the matter at hand. "While they're focusing on simply _rebuilding_ them the same way they did with the Cyborg Superman, they found a different human to experiment on."

"Right, Clay Ramsay. I saw his rap sheet after you asked me to look into him. Guy hates Superman for throwing him out of his own house, I would assume he hates Supergirl too, just 'cause. He's a wife beater, wife left him after the incident with the big blue boyscout. After that a Dr. K. Russell Abernathy approached him to sign up for something called 'Project K-Man'. It was supposed to be a super-soldier project for the military, but I suppose that's a cover up."

Lena once again nodded. "If you look into the files in one of the drives I gave you, you'll know he's the only human specimen they found success with in that project. The others exploded, or were eventually poisoned by prolonged kryptonite exposure after Abernathy and Westfield infused them with the materials. The isotope they staged to steal from my R and D department and the nanochips are for him. _Them_ really. I think the nanochips might be used with the remaining Kryptonian-based cyborgs. As for the isotope, it's to stabilize the Kryptonite Man so that he can efficiently use kryptonite as a power source. His hands are literally glowing green, Kate, I don't even know how Supergirl can handle going up against him once his active." she went on, slowly losing her cool as desperation started to sink in.

She was afraid, truly afraid, at least for Kara.

Lena took a deep breath and tried to calm herself again. The monstrosities that Cadmus had built, the things they've done… she could never fathom how Lex even thought of them and planned them.

True, she's seen her brother's true colors, but the extent of how despicable he could be, how inhumane his projects were… it never crossed Lena's mind.

"I did the best I could. I managed to meddle with the chips and I switched out the isotope they needed before they came in and stole them. I'm running calculations now. I think they can still stabilize the isotope for use, granted that they don't realize it's been mislabeled and replaced, but it would still be unstable. If it is, then it could be a weak spot for the damned thing, we just need a safe way to hit it." she then said, her hand rubbing her temples.

Kate took a deep breath to calm herself down, Lena could tell that the information wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear. "You did the best you could. If we can't infiltrate the base where they're keeping Ramsay we can at least sabotage their attempts. I have a few ideas that could work if the time comes but we need to be prepared. Do you have any idea on when they're planning to strike? And by the way, any word on why Cadmus wanted to probe your memories? Why they asked for a sample of your blood?"

Lena shook her head. "None on all ends, but I have an idea on why they want my memories and I'm growing more and more sure that they don't know the secrets they contain. I mean, I'm not yet dead so I think that's a good sign. I also think it might have to do with the last phase of Project 13. I'll let you know as soon as I find out myself."

"Lena, be careful." Kate replied as she prepared to leave. "I need to get this info to Oracle and the rest to crack it down. Besides, I think the DEO needs to know what's coming soon. But please, don't make any rash moves. There's a way to get at what we need without putting at risk, so please Lena…"

"I know." Lena replied, worrying her lip as she tried to keep herself calm. "I shouldn't have…"

"Lena, don't start second guessing yourself now. You had to gain their trust, and you did. They have a sample of your blood and your memories. If you didn't give them willingly, they would have taken it from you by force. What's important is we figure out what they want to do with all of it. More than that, figure out how to end them for good."

Lena nodded and took another deep breath to calm herself. The cracks on the surface were showing, she could feel it, but she had to soldier on – as Kate would say – and fight for herself. She wasn't going to be a pawn, or a damsel in distress.

She decided she was going to fight back the way knew how.

Lena was still very much worried with what would come next though. But she was a Luthor, and it was time to put that to good use. She can't crack under the pressure of the game she's playing now.

And she was still very much motivated to beat Lex no matter what.

"Where is she, anyways? She hasn't called or texted and I'm worried." she admitted.

"Ah, well, will you believe me if I tell you she's currently busy saving another earth?" Kate then asked causing Lena to laugh a little.

She sounded nervous, true, but relieved nonetheless with that piece of info.

As farfetched as it may seem, it did sound like something Supergirl would do. Especially with the Tachyon incident that happened last Thanksgiving, it sort of made sense.

And Lena decided to take whatever little comfort she could take from that.

At the very least, she would be safe from Cadmus in another earth.

* * *

"You okay, Danvers?" Alex heard Maggie ask as she made her way towards where Alex was sitting in the control room. She had a bag of Chinese take-out in hand – the one from that place that was thankfully always opened until two in the morning, it came in handy when a certain Kryptonian became hungry from late night super heroics – knowing only too well that Alex hadn't eaten since Maggie dragged her out for lunch.

And technically it was one in the morning, so really, Alex should eat something.

"You are too kind." Alex found herself admitting the truth of it. The past week had been the most stressful week of her life. First she received a call from Kara that she was going off to help save Barry's world – Alex has never even met Barry but she could tell she wasn't the biggest fan of him just yet, what with dragging her sister into whatever earth-ending battle they needed her for – which already threw her for a loop. Especially since Kara promised to be back by dinner around eight days ago. Both Winn and James were worried themselves, scrambling to their feet with trying to come up with excuses on why Kara still wasn't home both to J'onn and to Cat Grant, including an argument on inter-dimensional time differences – but that one was mostly just for J'onn.

Alex let herself buy their reasons and justifications. But it did very little to forget her current stresses.

Because it wasn't enough that Kara aka Supergirl was away for God knows how long, no. Cadmus just had to strike again, mostly with their alien tech. She didn't want to admit it, but she ended up having to call for back up, the DEO being stretched thin with dealing with Cadmus foot soldiers, diffusing some mounting aliens VS humans tension that of course just had to be fueled by the organizations' latest propaganda, the brief return of Roulette's alien fight club, and a case of robbery at L-Corp.

Really, the only silver-lining for Alex is just how much Lena seemed to be cooperating with her, Alex being under the guise of an FBI agent. Lena had been surprisingly transparent about the tech that was stolen, what it was supposed to be used for, and what it could potentially be turned into. It was making Alex a little bit suspicious but considering Cadmus was making a move and it just didn't make sense for Lena to divulge information that could help them stop the stupid organization, she decided to give the CEO the benefit of the doubt.

Lena's case was also helped by the fact that she seemed genuinely concerned about knowing how Kara was. Suspicions aside, she could see that the CEO genuinely cared for her sister, which really was making it hard for Alex to read her intentions.

"Earth to Danvers?" Maggie then said, bringing Alex back to the present, the detective handing her a pack of potstickers that made her think of Kara again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just… I'm a little worried about Kara."

"I though you said that Little Danvers is visiting Midvale?" Maggie asked, pulling over an empty chair by Alex's current station. "How dangerous can Midvale get?"

"I…" Alex started to say, not entirely sure how to go about explaining why her sister was currently missing, not to mention the fact that Supergirl was missing for over a week and Maggie asked Alex the very same question earlier during their lunch.

Maggie leaned closer and smiled gently at her. "Alex, I _know_. I kinda' figured it out myself." she then said and Alex looked at her curiously.

"Fi-figured out what?" she asked, partially nervous that Maggie managed to put two and two together about Kara's secret and partially nervous with the fact that Maggie's face was dangerously close to her own and that all she could think about was kissing her not-exactly-girlfriend in her place of work and she was really getting distracted thanks to Maggie's dimpled smile.

Alex was, after all, only human.

Maggie chuckled. "You've been worrying about both Kara and Supergirl excessively over the past few days. Looking back, you've been acting the same way towards Kara and Supergirl, the same amount of worry, the same amount of concern… and during the charity ball for the Wayne Foundation, you left saying it's a family matter but then dragged Winn and James with you, looking like you were about to kill someone. Not to mention the fact that I find you at Kate's the morning after you said you had to leave for a family emergency. I'm a detective, Danvers, how many times do I have to remind you that? After some mulling over and after trying to piece a few things together, it was the only explanation that made sense. Besides, Supergirl was the only one you work with who didn't seem to fit anywhere in your out of work social life and Kara was the only one who didn't fit anywhere in your professional life when everyone else seem to do just fine. You're friends with Winn, James, and Mon-El and the three of them work with you one way or another with the DEO."

Alex nodded as she bit her lip, "So you've figured it out…" she said thoughtfully.

"Yes, I figured it out." Maggie then said. "I'm not mad, Danvers. I get why you never told me, and I was planning to wait for you to tell me eventually, if you ever planned to. I mean I get why you wouldn't… I mean it isn't your secret…" Maggie started stammering.

Alex set aside her food and reached out to grab both Maggie's hands in her own, she looked intently into the detective's eyes and smiled. "I was meaning to. Soon, to be honest. I wanted to talk to Kara first though."

"Wait, really?" Maggie then asked, a little surprised but happy.

"Yeah." Alex replied, "I mean if Thanksgiving meant anything, or the fact that my mom seems to adore you and – as surprising as this sound – Lena Luthor both, I think we've established that you are family and family doesn't keep secrets from each other."

Maggie smiled back, seemingly out of words, before she let out a chuckle and changed the focus of the topic. "So your sister definitely has a thing for Lena Luthor, huh?" she asked.

"Shh! Not so loud, we wouldn't want to alarm anyone." Alex then said as she looked around to check if anyone's noticed them or if anyone heard anything.

The only one who seemed to turn his attention to them was Winn, who simply smiled at the two from his station before turning back to work.

With the tense situations in the city thanks to Cadmus and with Supergirl somewhere else in the multiverse, everyone was pulling a double shift at work.

"So, in all truthfulness, where is your sister? You seem incredibly worried about her. You know I'm here for you Alex, so if there's anything on your mind I want you to know that you can talk to me about it."

Alex took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Boy, where do I start." she said.

But before Alex could say anything else they felt a bit of seismic activity, the lights at the facility fluctuating as the monitors all turned off.

J'onn came storming in to the command center, Mon-El right behind him, the two seemed to be having a discussion of some sort. Winn grabbed onto the edge of his desk while Alex and Maggie grabbed onto each other.

The tremors stopped as soon as it started, with the lights flickering a little before staying on for good. The monitors were all still shut off, however, with all other agents having a hard time getting their computers to turn on. Winn was the first to do so, "Uh, guys…" he said as he pulled up a recording that the DEO received.

"Play it." J'onn said coolly, wanting to know what on earth happened. Winn managed to hit play before all the other agents had their computers up and running.

A bit of static was all they could hear before an image popped up on the screen. It was man in a purple suit who had green skin, purple eyes, and the same symbol on Indigo's forehead on his own. Static kept interfering as the recording played for them, the screen freezing in between frames as the being in front of them spoke and messing with the message by cutting a few words out.

"C-citizens…o-of National City… M-my… is Brainiac 5… I… -fraid that th-this me-… isn't of the cordial kind… I'm… -ber of the Le-legion… -perheroes from the thir-thirtieth century... An anomaly was det-… with… time and sp-space continuum as a res-… a ripple effect from a… one of the multiple earths. W-we… the Legion had re-recently… with… Blight… Th-the anomaly…"

"Can't you do something to fix how that plays?" J'onn asked as the being in front of the screen kept freezing.

Winn shrugged and shook his head as the message continued to play.

"Try replaying it using a lower quality for the video. Can you do that?" Maggie then asked.

"Like with online videos when it takes time buffering? Lower the resolution?" Winn then asked as he immediately went straight into trying Maggie's suggestion.

"I mean hey, it could work?" Maggie then replied and when Winn replayed the message Alex was sure she could have kissed Maggie right then and then,

If only J'onn wasn't standing so close to the two.

Static was still present, but with the lower quality version of the message, the interferences in between the voice recording went somewhat smoother. The audio played faster in some cases, and the images would freeze but catch up nonetheless.

"Citizens of National City." it started, "M-my name is Brainiac 5. I'm a-afraid this message isn't of the cordial kind. This is a warning. I'm a member of the Legion of Superheroes from the thirtieth century, as some of your heroes will surely become. An anomaly was detected wi-with the time and sp-space continuum as a result of a ripple effect from a-an event from one of the multiple earths. We, the Le-legion, had re-recently dealt with the invading forces of the Blight. Th-the appearance of this a-anomaly causes the Blight's future attack that we ha-have prevented to happen much earlier, messing up with o-our history re-records. W-we the Legion have tried re-reaching your time t-to provide a-assistance, however we have di-discovered that we c-could not…. Future had be-… uncertain… Sending you this now… hopes… reach you… triumph…"

Each and every DEO agent stood in awe of the message as the static towards the end of the message proved to be too difficult to remove, even after Winn tried messing with it a bit.

"So the Blight, what do you know about them? Think we can trust the guy with the message? He looked like Indigo." Alex then asked, turning to J'onn who simply groaned. Even Mon-El looked afraid.

"Trust him or not, there's nothing good about the Blight." he grumbled in response, the timber of his voice sounding more like how it was in his Martian form than his human form.

Which Alex figured was definitely a bad sign.

"It's going to take a miracle for us to win against the Blight. And we most definitely need both this planet's Kryptonians if we want to stand a chance. Truthfully, we need all the help we can get." Mon-El then added, taking a somber tone.

"I'll contact Superman, see if we can get that league of his to help us. Mr. Schott, figure out how we can get Supergirl back soon." J'onn commanded, his tone all business, before marching away.

Alex felt Maggie's hand reach out to grab hers, giving it a squeeze to reassure her. She's had so much to deal with, and really, Alex was thankful that Maggie was there every step of the way to be her support.

Even when she says nothing at all.

Alex parted ways with Maggie soon after, promising to finish the food she had brought her when she gets home.

Although technically, Alex wasn't going home just yet.

Kate Kane had been back in the city for a couple of days, Batwoman helping Guardian keep things together in Supergirl's very much noted absence. Cat Grant has been a great help as well, advocating the message of hope to all the citizens of National City who were greatly missing the presence of their favorite superhero and reassuring them that wherever Supergirl was, she was fighting for more than the city. She was undoubtedly fighting for the world.

Of course Cat Grant was right, she just didn't know by how much, and surely Supergirl would figure out a way to thank her for that.

Alex will make sure of that.

Alex soon found herself outside Kate's door, this time however, she decided that knocking would be the better choice.

The door made a sound that seemed to suggest that it was unlocked. Alex tried to open it and was met with success. As soon as she closed the door she heard the same sound again, and Alex realized that Kate's security system was actually active this time.

Alex made her way through the empty living room, guessing only too well where Kate could have been. She remembered their talk a few days ago, when the vigilante dropped by the DEO to check on things.

"Are you sure?" Kate had asked her then, after Alex gave Kate her response. She seemed to have been disappointed by the answer she got.

"I've got everything I need at the DEO, besides, I heard Agent Chase managed to beat Batman in a fist fight, a-…"

"And she was trained by only the DEO?" Kate had asked, interrupting her. "First of all, do know _I_ also broke her arm. Second, that's a misconception no one seemed to bother to correct. She's a prized DEO agent, true, but her father was the one who won that fist fight and her father was a vigilante. But if that's what makes you iffy about this, what you think you'll be…"

"No, that's not it." Alex had said, interrupting Kate's reply. "I just want to have faith in…"

"Oh," Kate had then said. "Alex, you're a great agent, one of the best the DEO has had for sure, and you've got all the potentials in you to be even better than you are now. Don't second guess that. You can hold your own with the best of them but… with some people…? Sure you dealt with Deathstroke's cronies, but you would have died if you faced him the way you are now. And I mean, _we_ all have trouble with people form Task Force X too, for example."

"Task Force X?"

Kate shook her head and simply smiled. "It's not that you're incompetent Alex, that's not why I made the offer with you. I became a vigilante because that was the only way I saw I could still serve. Things have changed now, sure, I mean you're not going to be discharged if you come out at work. You're not going to face the same dilemma as I did. But let me be clear, I made that offer not to give you a different way of serving or fighting for the people you care about but because I can see that you have what it takes within you to be better. I had many people train me, Nightwing included. Batman had many people train him too. The best of the best. And we all learned from each and every mentor we've had. We learned something that makes us better than we were before. I'm not asking you to take on a mantle, a cape and cowl. I want to push you to become more than just a DEO agent. But if you think that you'll reach your potential by serving the way you're serving now, I'll respect that decision." Kate had said.

And boy do those words haunt her now.

Because there she was, Alex Danvers, standing inside of Batwoman's little base of operations about to eat her words.

The exhaustion from this week, the threats they're about to face, she was definitely starting to reconsider the offer.

After all, Batman, his little team of recruits, they don't have what Alex have in terms of manpower. Sure they had the gadgets, the facilities, everything.

But they don't have a team of equally capable agents. Sure they have the help of law enforcers sometimes, but on some missions they don't, and sometimes they team up, but they keep their cities safe by their lonesome if not by their small partnerships.

Kate and her friends stand with the world against them sometimes.

And yet, every night, and day sometimes, they step up and foil the plans of their enemies.

Maybe, maybe there was a balance to all of it. Maybe, Alex figured, she could both be a DEO agent and benefit from Kate's offer too.

Maybe she can learn a thing or two on how they manage to be an army all on their own.

Kate's had twice as long as an experience with all this compared to her. Batman, Nightwing, the rest of them really, had years and years of practice and training.

And considering the night she barged in, Kate was barely putting an effort in fighting her…

"What made you change your mind, Agent Danvers?" she heard Kate asked as she turned from the chair she was sitting on. Kate was in full costume, her cowl to the side of her control board. Her main computer seemed to be decoding files from a USB drive, while one of her side monitors showed her uploading information and sending it to Oracle. "I tried decoding that myself but apparently the information on it is too sensitive. I think Oracle is the only one who could decode it, other than the person who encoded it of course." she then added, following Alex's line of sight when she glanced over to it.

"How do you know I changed my mind?" Alex then asked.

"If you only needed my help, you would have called and asked for my presence at the DEO. You're here. You sought me out. Meaning it's personal. The only thing personal we have to talk about – sans the fact you're dating my ex and I don't think you want to open that can of worms – is the offer I made to train you. The offer that you declined. So unless I'm wrong and you decided you want to bring me in again, I repeat my question. Agent Danvers, what made you change your mind?"

"I don't know, Cadmus and their current moves, a possible alien invasion, a –"

"Whoa, back up a bit, possible alien invasion?" Kate asked sounding really concerned.

"Yeah, I don't even know where to begin on that." Alex then said just as the program that was trying to decode the drive that Kate had finished. Files automatically appeared on screen and Kate quickly started scanning the information in front of her.

"What on earth is that?" Alex gasped as she walked closer to where Kate sat, a picture of a man in a tube with glowing green arms on full display on screen.

"A side project from Cadmus." Kate then replied. "One that may be activated soon."

"That's a side project?!" Alex exclaimed as she spoke animatedly. Her thoughts immediately went to her father, the things that they might be making him work on. "That's like a top secret level kind experiment, not to mention inhumane!" she added, noting the tubes, the plugs and all connected to the poor man in the tube, his body submerged in some strange liquid, machines sustaining his life after what Cadmus had done to him.

It was just as disturbing as the photos of the experiments they found with the raids.

"Yeah." was all the reply that Alex got from Kate, her tone somber. "So tell me, Alex, was I right? You've come here to change your mind on my offer?" she then asked.

Alex took a deep breath, her mind had been made up on her way to Kate's residence already, and what Kate had just uncovered only pushed her even more.

To reach her full potential and fight alongside Kara without ever failing her again. To fight against Cadmus and reclaim her father, something she still hadn't been able to do with all that she has as a DEO agent.

Alex gave a nod in affirmation, more motivated than she was before reaching Kate's place. "I want you to train me." she said with absolute certainty.

Kate smiled back. "I won't go easy on you." she replied. It was her way of asking Alex if she was sure.

"When do we start?" Alex then replied, the look on her face showing just how serious she was.

* * *

"Ms. Luthor, I'm sorry, but he insisted on seeing you immediately." Jess started to ramble on as Paul Westfield walked into Lena's office like he owned the place.

They haven't seen each other for days, and in truth Lena was starting to get antsy with what Cadmus was planning to do. She's learned that silence from their part meant something despicable was about to be unveiled in front of them.

It was bright and early in the morning, Lena was tired and restless, and she definitely wasn't planning on dealing with her mother or Westfield for long that day – it was definitely not the best way of starting the day – but then again, she assumed, that getting news on anything they've been working on would be better than nothing.

Lena simply turned her head and raised a brow towards Westfield's direction before turning to address her assistant. "Thank you Jess." she said, dismissing her assistant who was eyeing the smiling scientist suspiciously. Lena kept her eyes on her assistant until the door of her office was closed. She set aside her files and leaned back on her seat as she addressed the man, "What can I do for you, Dr. Westfield?"

Westfield simply smiled, pulling out an envelope and handing it to Lena. "What are these?" she asked.

"Test results." Westfield replied. "From the initial sample you gave us with your blood. The markers we were looking for matched Lex's quite perfectly as we thought, good news we should be celebrating."

"Markers?" Lena pressed on. Surely they weren't testing _genetic_ markers for siblings. Lena was adopted, that much was already certain to her.

If anything, Lillian never let her forget.

"On mutations." Westfield replied coolly. "I'm sure someone of your intellect can deduce what I mean from those results, besides, I already gave you the file history of Project 13, all our failures and our successes."

"Why are you showing me this now?" Lena asked cautiously as she folded the paper with the results and placed it back inside the envelope. She rested one of her hands on it afterwards, wanting to see if Westfield would ask for the paper back or if she was allowed to keep it.

He didn't seem to take notice of her actions and simply moved on with his explanation. "Like I said, we're moving forward with Project 14 now that Project 13 is near completion. Here, this one you better see for yourself." he said, handing Lena a memory card.

Lena decoded the files before being able to open it, being heavily encrypted. She found a few of similar file types, videos on cellular images taken using electron microscopy, histology results, the whole lot.

It was like they were dissecting mice and learning the most they can from it.

"Most of the files were from the Fort Rozz Kryptonians we managed to obtain." Westfield went on as Lena pulled up video files of what looked to be cells exposed to different sources of radiation. "While they seem to be storing solar energy efficiently, they're not doing it quite as close to that of Superman, which is the file marked 'I'. It could simply be because they were also exposed to different sources of radiation in space or on their home planet. Supergirl's though, they're remarkable. It's the one marked 'X'."

Lena looked up Kara's test results, taking note that between her and Superman, Cadmus had experimented on eight other Kryptonians. She also noted the fact that Superman seemed to have been captured by Lex quite a few times if they managed to run more extensive tests on him, as the files suggested. "If you open all of Supergirl's test results and compare them to Superman's or the other Kryptonians, you'll see that her storage and metabolic consumption of solar energy are by far much more efficient. We think it's because she may have spent time on their planet, like the Fort Rozz specimens, before coming here on earth at a certain age. She's in the middle of two extremes, shall we say, in that she has not aged to maturation at the time she started to be exposed to the yellow sun, like Superman, but had started to reach her prime form. We think that the mix of radiations she was exposed to in space or whatever conditions she had been in during her travels and her development here both contributed to Supergirl's superiority, so to speak, in this aspect. Incorporating this with observations from Supergirl's fights all around the city with different aliens and test subjects we have developed, it would seem that Supergirl is faster and possibly even stronger than Superman. I think it's safe to say that we can link this to said ability to store and consume solar energy effectively. Which of course suggests that Supergirl…"

"…has potentials of being stronger than Superman." Lena finished for him, closing the files in front of her. Despite the truth that she was quite intrigued by what the results of the studies in front of her could tell her, she's had enough.

She wasn't going to let this man keep talking about Kara like a lab rat instead of a person.

Kara being an alien or not.

She was a person, someone with a good heart, a warmth to her. She was more human than some people she knew. Lena wasn't going to let anyone get away with trying to dissociate Kara's humanity by treating her like some sort of sample for testing, something to be caged, probed, and prodded.

It was at that moment that she swore that anything related to Kara, she would hold near and dear and protect with her life.

And anyone who would try and diminish the thought of her, what she was, to just some _thing_ to be studied under the microscope, she would make them pay dearly.

All in due time.

"Yes. Hence the great interest in our new project." Westfield then said. "I just wanted to loop you in with our progress, keep you invested, shall I dare say? Lex himself worked on Project 13 quite extensively before he was brought in by the Last Son of Krypton. I would love it if you can be hands on with Project 14 once we have it started. We're just finalizing our database right now. Make sure that key results of our experiments are kept in a safe server. We can't slip up with the persistent raids the alien sympathizers keep on pushing."

"You have my full cooperation, Dr. Westfield." Lena replied keeping her tone as cordial as possible.

She wasn't proud of it but after her talk with Kate last night she had decided that she could keep her cool when dealing with Westfield and her mother by thinking up ways of how she would make them suffer for their dastardly deeds when she had to breathe the same air as they did.

It was at least comforting to think that they would lose, that they would pay for their crimes.

"That's good to here, Ms. Luthor." Westfield replied. "We expect your full compliance." he added, reaching out to shake Lena's hand. Lena accepted and played her part to a tee.

She watched Westfield closely as he walked out of her office. Once he was out, Lena reopened the files on her laptop and studied them closely, a plan formulating in the back of her mind.

And a certain other thought about the two Projects they talked about having occurred to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, writing Lena's POVs were tough (and long). But sadly, I still need to hold some information back. You're all free to PM me on this site or tumblr (thehypotensivegrad) if you've figured out Cadmus' masterplan and want to have a discussion. That said, I do promise you that some of the consequences of what would happen with this Cadmus side project would have consequences later on (just like with what happened with the earlier Cyborg Superman mini-arc :) they are all still to come, with KMan's consequences happening a little earlier than the Cyborg Superman's).
> 
> UPNEXT: Kara comes back! Supercorp cuteness (and first dates?) all while Kara just can't stop walking into people 'getting busy'… *cough* Sanvers *cough* Plus Barry and friends drop by in very many unexpected ways and Kate may or may not scare Barry a little…


	16. The Heart of the Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, here is chapter 16, the start of the mini-arc involving some of our beloved Arrow-verse characters. Chapter features the start of Alex's training, an awkward reunion, Supercorp fluff (like serious fluff), and the arrival of our Earth-1 heroes.
> 
> Thanks again for the continuous support, can't believe we're starting the second half!

Her apartment looked the same, it was like she barely even left. And she would have even believed that if only it weren't dark outside.

Kara stepped outside of the little cloud that was the rift that separated her earth from that of her new found friends' and treaded carefully, something about finally being _home_ again made her feel warm inside. The lights were off, with only the lights of the city outside giving a bit of life to her otherwise unperturbed apartment. Kara set aside the device that Cisco had made for her as she walked around, letting the in the familiar sight of her place bring her some sort of warmth. In that other world, her new friends were probably continuing their celebrations their own way. They deserved it, all of them do. It was a hard battle that they won.

But for Kara, she just wanted to crawl into her sheets and revel at the fact that she was once again in her own world. A world where when she dials her sister's number, Alex would answer – and on that thought, Kara made a mental note to get a new phone – and a world where all her friends were in her life, where she's met Winn and James, where something was going on between her and Lena Luthor.

And despite all the plotting and the scheming, despite the alien attacks and threats of murder going about with regards to Supergirl and Cadmus and the DEO, this was Kara's _home_.

It wasn't Krypton, true, and Kara might have even been a little bit guilty for not even checking on the state of Krypton in that other earth, but the earth she had craved to see for the past four days she was away was the place that was in the forefront of her mind. It was where a part of her yearned to be.

To be with Alex, J'onn, Winn, and James. Heck, to even see Mon-El again, and Kate, and of course Maggie.

And to be with Lena.

She knew she had some explaining to do the next morning, Alex won't let her absence simply slip and J'onn would probably give her a lengthy lecture on abandoning her responsibilities. But what was she to do? Earth-1 needed a Supergirl. They needed help to fight against an honest to Rao alien invasion, and how could Kara say no to that?

She knew as well that she better come up with a good excuse with Cat Grant and Snapper Carr both else she be fired.

And she knew that she had to see Lena soon too. She didn't want to give her the wrong impression that she suddenly packed her bags and ran as far as she could, especially after she promised that they would talk about _them_ once Kara gets her thoughts in order. For the most part, her thoughts were still a little bit everywhere, and while there was barely any time to spend chatting about relationships and whatnots during her time away, she did realize something.

In any earth, in any lifetime, she hoped against all hope that she somehow found her way to Lena.

Whether they be both human in one earth, living mundane lives, or both Kryptonians if Krypton had never suffered its fate. One way or another, she wished that they would meet, that their paths would cross, and that their stories intertwine. It sounded a bit self-serving, but Kara's never dared ask for something so selfish before that she figured she was allowed to be, just this once.

Because as much as she had spent her life thinking about what would have happen if she never left Krypton, she knew she could never imagine her life without the people currently in it now.

And with those thoughts, Kara found herself drifting off to sleep, her body tired from all the fighting,

All without realizing that it was no longer November, that Christmas was a mere fourteen days away…

…and that National City was without its Supergirl for roughly two weeks.

Kara woke up early the next day thoroughly confused. She had figured that it was probably a Wednesday and that she needed to get back to work soon before she gets an earful from Cat and Snapper, planning to drop at the DEO some time during the day, whenever she was free really, to apologize for suddenly taking off.

In her defense, Barry simply said that they needed help against an alien invasion and that he had a team set-up before they left. She did not think it would take days to accomplish anything if the team had already been assembled – really she's been spoiled on having the back-up of the DEO to help deal with alien threats in her earth.

So Kara most definitely panicked when she turned on the TV and tuned into the local program only to find that it was a Saturday in the middle of December, with a news update regarding the last sightings of a flying man with green arms, shooting green beams terrorizing the city three days ago. An attack that was thwarted with the combined efforts of Guardian, Gotham's own Batwoman, a Green Martian and a White Martian working alongside them, and a new hero sporting a red suit and blue cape who Catco recently dubbed as Valor.

Kara found herself slumping down her couch as she spent a good five minutes to process everything and reconcile what had happened in her absence. A wave of guilt and worry had hit her strong as the news updated with the recent attacks caused by anti-alien rioters being quieted down and the still on-going case with an attack that happened at L-Corp.

If Kara could develop the ability to split herself up into multiple versions of herself, now would really be the time for that power to kick in. She was internally torn in trying to figure out where she would be going first, the DEO, work – does she even still have a job? – or wherever Lena was.

She decided that Alex would be the best choice, she was probably getting antsy about her safety now.

Kara might've regretted that decision as soon as she burst into Alex's apartment early that morning though.

It's not like _they_ were actually… well… _getting busy_ … but Alex was standing in her living room with only a very over-sized shirt on while Maggie was wearing one of Alex's old college sweatshirts in her boxers, the detective kissing her sister.

And again, really, she's walked into… more _compromising_ situations before... but this time it was different.

There was a softness to it.

There were layers.

Layers upon layers of emotions from how Maggie cupped Alex's cheek, to the quite conversation they had, a conversation without the need of words.

And Kara, well, she felt like she was stumbling upon something almost too sacred of a moment between the two. Like she was an intruding upon something and her intrusion, welcomed or not, tainted the moment and that she actually felt embarrassed about it.

But Kara's quick thoughts rushed past each other, the familiarity that surrounded the couple, the way they were dressed, it could have only meant one thing and now Kara felt awkward for a whole other reason.

Because it kind of felt like walking into your parents' room after they just… well… Cute or not, Kara just didn't want to imagine it.

More than that, she didn't want to admit it to herself – no, not just yet – that she craved that kind of intimacy with someone, a certain someone who happens to have the initials _L.L._

She blames Alex. The one time, _one time_ , she decides not to use her powers to check on Alex if she was inside her apartment and this happens.

It was partly her fault since she opened Alex's door – which was typically unlocked in the day when she was still at home – but she's blaming Alex on this one since her sister did the same thing when she visits Kara that Kara's manners were all thrown out the window already and didn't bother to knock.

"Kara!" Alex exclaims as Kara all but tumbles backwards towards the hallway.

Because she did walk into her sister practically half-naked with her girlfriend – _Are they official now?_ – and Kara was pretty sure she was all shades of red at the moment.

"S-sorry, didn't know you were getting bu- I mean currently… I- uh, I should go." Kara managed to mumble, the words spilling out of her mouth.

Alex looked just as red, half-flustered, half-angry – the 'I'm mad at you for not calling the last two weeks and making me worried' kind of angry – but as soon as she heard Alex command, "Get back in here, Kara. Don't make me go out there." Kara buckled in and awkwardly shuffled her feet inside, closing the door as gentle as possible, all while seemingly growing more and more interested in the handiwork of Alex's flooring.

Maggie seemed to be the only one amused by the whole thing really, chuckling as she shook her head. "Boy, this ought to be good." she whispered although it barely registered in Kara's thoughts.

Alex didn't waste any time crossing her living room and pulling Kara into her arms. "Don't ever do that again, dummy." she said and Kara could swear that she could feel Alex's hands pull her even tighter into her embrace, hear the short and sharp intake of breath that clued her in that Alex was crying a little.

"Sorry, she's been highly emotional the last two weeks." Maggie then said in a light and teasing tone. "She was worried sick about you, the last three days was spent stress training and panicking how you might have gotten yourself killed." the detective added, this time in a more serious tone.

And somehow Kara felt like she had to answer to two people now if this ever happened again. First, Alex would give her hell, then Maggie would give her hell for making Alex worried in the first place.

"I know. I'm sorry." Kara then replied, mostly to Alex who was trying to wipe away the tears as she pulled away and smacked Kara on the arm.

"Please tell me you at least raised hell against whoever tried to invade someone else's earth." Alex then said and Kara immediately started spewing out a string of vowels and consonants that couldn't make any comprehensible word whether it was English or Kryptonese.

"Don't worry Little Danvers, figured it all out by myself." Maggie then said with a wink as she settled down on Alex's couch.

Kara was left without words but Alex seemed to have recovered by then and gave her a stern talking to for leaving rather abruptly. Her sister didn't miss a beat, from abandoning her responsibilities at Catco and the DEO – "And I know you didn't mean to, Kara, that you just couldn't turn your back on your friends, but we really need to talk about your uncanny ability to jump head first in whatever dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences!" Alex lectured at one point and Kara had to hold herself back from arguing that Alex does _literally_ the same thing time and time again. She went on and on about essentially leaving National City defenseless without any coherent explanation especially right in the middle of their Cadmus investigations and raids – "And Kara, the last time you disappeared it was when Cadmus _abducted_ you, do you have any idea, _any idea_ , of what that made me feel when I couldn't reach you?" Alex had asked rather exasperated.

"What was I supposed to do, Alex? They had aliens. Really strong aliens and they were all just a bunch of humans, and sure meta-humans, that were out-numbered and who weren't sure about what they were dealing with." Kara then said, finding her opening to counter Alex's arguments. Alex had a point, sure, but she just wanted to explain her point of view of things. She did what she thought was the right thing to do at the moment that it happened.

"Meta-humans?" Alex asked, she was asking for clarification every now and then as Kara told her what happened in the other earth. Maggie just listened, her expressions enough to tell Kara what she was thinking as she simply watched Alex tell Kara off for leaving the way she did for the umpteenth time.

The detective also provided a few insights, mumbling comments under her breath, every time Alex said something about Batwoman and Alex working with her. Somehow Maggie could tell she wasn't exactly ecstatic about it, and a closer look at Alex told Kara why.

Her sister was tired. She's got a bit of bruises and whatever Maggie meant by her mutterings. "Her methods are a little intense sometimes, and with the little time you have before whatever apocalypse you're trying to fend off –" Maggie started to say at one point.

"It's an invasion that we don't stand a chance again no matter how many heroes there are on earth if we can't figure out a way to defeat the Blight before they come." Alex then said

"The what now? Did you say _Blight_?" Kara immediately asked, utterly confused and slightly terrified.

She's heard of them before, sure, when she was still little. A group of aliens spreading death and decay in their quest for immortality.

"Are you saying we have a possible alien invasion from a group of _immortal_ aliens?" Kara asked and Alex nodded before looking at Kara confused.

"Did you say _immortal_?" Alex then asked sounding quite concerned. "I mean, we got a message from the future twice the last week, one warning us about them, the other telling us that beating them would be _difficult_ , but I thought whatever the stupid Brainiac 5 or something meant was that ordinary bullets won't put them down."

"Has Winn figured out how to unscramble the last transmission from the future?" Maggie then asked and Alex shook her head, defeated.

"We've asked Oracle to help out, but at least Superman confirmed that we can trust the Legionnaires. Apparently he traveled to the future once or twice in his youth to help them out." Alex then replied.

Kara was at a loss for words. With recent events on Barry's earth she knew for sure that time-travel was possible, but a warning about the Blight? Legionnaires? Her cousin's time-travels to the future thing – she really ought to spend more time with Clark to hear more about stories from when he was growing up – and someone called Brainiac 5?

Kara's head was swirling with tons of new information to process. She was gone for two weeks, _two weeks_ , and apparently all hell was about to break lose in _her_ earth.

"I thought you were all busy dealing with Cadmus' latest experiment. I saw it on the news Alex, the one with green radioactive looking arms." she then said

"Right, almost forgot about _that one!_ " Alex then exclaimed as she started pacing. She took a deep breath to calm herself a little. "He's called Kryptonite Man, Kara."

"Krypto- oh." Kara replied, realization settling down on her.

Somehow she could guess why Alex was tired and as worried as she was. She didn't need her sister spell it out to her that Cadmus' new threat could potentially and quite possibly punch a whole right through her.

And a part of Kara was thankful she wasn't alone dealing with _everything_ life seems to be throwing at their direction. That Maggie was there for Alex.

Alex calmed herself a bit and sat down next to Maggie and started explaining to Kara everything that's happened in her absence point by point to make it a little easier for Kara to understand, especially since she was feeling a little too overwhelmed at the moment.

Her sister explained how Cadmus started to make their moves, stealing a few items from L-Corp's research and development department, how their recent propaganda had been affecting the city's anti-alien supporters, and how they've been struggling to keep the peace and quiet at National City. The DEO's efforts are now currently focused on figuring things out with the Blight. J'onn and Mon-El had been particularly helpful, with Winn trying to unscramble the last transmission.

Alex explained that a week after Supergirl left they received a message from someone called Brainiac 5, a member of the Legion of Superheroes in the thirtieth century and a friend of Superman. He met them when was still saving people in his hometown and doing his own small superhero stint in Smallville.

The whole thing was making her anxious. Even though Kara knew about the Blight, she just never thought she'd see the day when she would potentially face them.

Maggie brought up that the NCPD had been working alongside some of the DEO agents and were dealing with most of the simple stuff with the alien tension going around town. No one else knows about the possible invasion other than the DEO and Superman's friends who were putting their own efforts in keeping vigilant and planning for an eventual attack. All they had, after all, was a warning from the future saying that the attack would happen during the present year.

Besides, the citizens of National City were also already on their toes because of Kryptonite Man. "Because of course Cadmus just have to send their monster of the week for us to face." Maggie then commented. "It's like that Westfield guy and Lillian Luthor had decided to become _our_ Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa."

Alex looked up to her girlfriend and chuckled. "And _we're_ the Power Rangers now?"

"Sorry, my cousins called to check in the other day and the younger ones were obsessing about the new movie coming up." Maggie then replied and gave Alex a quick kiss on the cheeks. "Don't worry, you're still the number one nerd here."

Kara smiled, despite everything that's happened in such a short period of time it was nice to see that quiet moments still existed.

That there was someone watching over and taking care of Alex, and that her sister was happy.

"How have you been able to deal with him so far?" Kara then found herself asking, wondering how the Kryptonite Man was still a threat. If the DEO has found a way to beat him, he should be detained now. But if he was still out and about, then… Kara really didn't want to think about that.

"J'onn, mostly." Alex then replied with a sigh. "He's also been working with his issues with M'gann who's lending us a hand. While she's technically still a permanent guest at the DEO just like Mon-El because he won't let her out of his sight, she's been quite helpful. J'onn said that if she really wanted to prove that she was in our side then this was her chance. He's still being stubborn about things, truth be told. Especially since M'gann's been here on earth for how long now and she hasn't gone all 'destroy the city'."

"It helps that the Daxamite is also impervious to Kryptonite." Maggie then added.

"Anyways, Batwoman got some intel on the… well… on the _designs_ of Kryptonite Man and when he showed up we managed to hit him where it was most relevant. Most of his mid-torso is composed of cybernetics and they've incorporated some sort of isotope that he's using to stabilize himself so he can harness his powers from kryptonite, the same one stolen from L-Corp. There seemed to be something wrong with the isotope and he gets de-powered at times. Plus we found that there was a chip on his neck that controlled some of his movement that J'onn managed to break while Batwoman threw an explosive batarang during their last encounter. She hit the area where the isotope was connected to completely de-power him for a while. His suit seemed to be made out of the same type of Promethium as Deathstroke's suit so it didn't do much damage. It did weaken him a bit but he still manages to escape whenever we encounter him. He's been trying to break into L-Corp again, I think in the hopes of fixing himself or something." Alex further edified.

Kara took a deep breath and sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned back. She focused on the softness of Alex's armchair, the quiet of her apartment, the feel of the cushions underneath her hands.

They were real, it wasn't a dream. She was gone for four days, at least to her, but she was gone for two weeks to everyone else.

The time difference she could somehow grapple with. Everything else however?

It felt like there was a sudden shift, a schism happening after she had left and now everything had drastically changed.

She was back on her earth. _Back_.

She left knowing full well what she would return to.

So why was she feeling as lost as when she first arrived on earth?

Did everything really change? Was anything even still the same? If she had gotten back sooner, could she have done something to prevent the attacks, stop Cadmus from stealing what they needed from L-Corp?

Or even to prevent the Blight coming?

"It's not your fault Kara." Alex then said. "Don't blame yourself on anything, okay? Things might have gotten out of hand when you were gone but don't think this was your fault. Cadmus doing things like what they've done to the poor guy who, I can't stress this enough, can actually kill you with his bare hands or the Blight coming, that's not your fault." Alex then said, standing up walking over to her sister and sitting next to her on the armrest of the armchair.

Kara nodded. She shouldn't waste time for regret.

Her city needed Supergirl, and that's who she was, that's who they got back.

But National City also has Kara Danvers back, and considering she's been AWOL for two weeks, it was time she make it up.

* * *

 

Lena had to admit, she's had a crisis of faith before, once or twice really, but it was usually relating to other people and what they do. She had a crisis of faith with Lex, for example, when she was struggling to get her brother back, when he would try and sway her that his was the right way, when his sweet words and the images of a perfect utopia would try to hide the ugliness of his methods.

But Lena's never had a crisis of faith on herself, if she could do _this_ in particular.

If she could take Cadmus down from the inside out.

But perhaps it was because she's never had anything so precious to lose before.

With Kara away for the last two weeks, she kept fearing for the worse. She rarely slept on normal days, working day and night to rebuild L-Corp, make it the force for good she wanted it to be. But the last few nights were different. There was no Supergirl to save National City, there was no Kara Danvers to light up a smile on her face.

And she feared, oh every waking moment of the night she had feared, that she would wake up to Westfield walking into her office saying they have her, Supergirl, or to her mother barging into her apartment saying it was time to prove her worth, dragging a lifeless-like Supergirl into her room all weak and near death.

It happened before, it could happen again. They built a monster that could really kill Kara and her cousin, and while they've managed to thwart his efforts, Westfield had been keeping true to his word to bring Lena more into the fold.

He seemed to be disappointed with Dr. Abernathy that their original Kryptonite Man was failing, he reasoned a flaw in the designs of his partner who he let take over the project while he pioneered two new ones was the reason behind the failures.

But the two, now three projects, were keeping Lena busy. During Westfield's last visit about three days ago she managed to plant a prototype bug on him. He hasn't left National City and he's been monitoring his movements. While the quick prototype that Lena whipped up could pinpoint his location, there were times he would disappear on the map. Kate, who had been busy tracking him, noted that he could be going underground, suggesting another Cadmus underground lab somewhere in National City.

The entrances to this underground lab seemed to be confusing too as Westfield's signal kept disappearing at different points. Lena hypothesized that it could have multiple entries.

However they were too far away from each other… and she doesn't think Cadmus would have an underground base that encompassed the whole city.

Or could they?

"Or you know, maybe they have some underground transport system and the actual size of the lab is smaller?" Kate had offered as a solution the other night, Batwoman having allowed her to use her tech in her little base of operation, it was safer that way. Kate had been tempted to bring it up to the DEO but they didn't want to have to explain what Lena was doing dancing in the shadows with Cadmus. It was too early and too complicated.

Besides she didn't want to have to explain Project 14 yet, not when she hasn't figured out where _she_  was.

The DEO was a government agency at the end of the day, and a part of Lena found herself desperately wanting to _protect_ 14, as well as 13, now that she's realized what they were.

She didn't want the government to use or misuse _them_ just like Cadmus had been intending to do.

And she most definitely did not want them to be prodded and dissected like some lab rats.

Hence why they've been doing their own little operations for now.

"What did Westfield want with you this time?" Kate had asked her that night. She was wearing her suit and Lena had to admit that she's still getting used to the idea that Kate was Batwoman.

With Kara it was easy.

Supergirl and her, they just fit together perfectly.

Both shining like the sun, both like a spark of hope in the darkness, illuminating the abyss that had surrounded her life.

Lena supposed that Kate and Batwoman made sense too.

She's always suspected that Kate's scrapes and bruises weren't 'accidents' but somehow, with her act as a socialite, she was having trouble reconciling the image of the drunken party girl who wanted nothing but waste her life away with the well-disciplined soldier in front of her.

But then again, if she had met Kate under different circumstances, before she was discharged and lost her way, then maybe it would have been easier to do just that.

Lena had sighed as a response. "I'm not sure exactly. It was more of an update. He promised that he would loop me in with both Project 13 and Project 14 soon once they have things settled. I'm hoping he'll take me where they are, that way we'll figure out the base. They're also finalizing something about an army of dead Kryptonians, so if I were you I would give the DEO a heads up about that. I'll let you know what I can find out about it as soon as I can. But more than that, he also said something about a **Mark II** for the Cyborg Superman project. They found some weird metal that was better than Promethium, or so he says, but they're still figuring out a way to forge this new metal. He wanted to know if Lex ever tried playing around with something like that before, during those days when he experimented in his own secret lab at home. They apparently found this metal ore near the Luthor manor in Smallville where Lex stayed for a while after college."

"That could explain why he briefly visited Lex. Whatever your brother knows, however, he probably wasn't able to fully divulge, why else would he ask you?" Kate had asked.

"I also think he knows Lex gave me his notes, or something like that. Just a feeling really. I think that's why he didn't oppose to letting me into the loop when I said I wanted to work with my mother to continue my brother's legacy. It was probably in his journals but it didn't interest me. The bioengineering projects were what drew my attention." Lena had replied with all honesty.

"Just be careful with your next move with Cadmus." Kate had then replied before her security system showed Alex Danvers letting herself into Kate's apartment. Lena had looked at her curiously, Kate did mention she offered to train Kara's sister but the two working closer together was never brought up in any of their conversations. "You might want to hide." Kate had then added.

"Where?" Lena had pointed out the obvious as most of Kate's base was pretty open space.

"Oh, I may or may not have plenty of secret passages." Kate had cheekily replied and that was how Lena found a quick passageway into Kate's own bedroom from her base.

She never had to sneak out before, except for whenever Lex tried to get her to sneak out and 'live a little' when they were in their late teens, but it was tiny little distractions like what happened at Kate's a few nights ago that was keeping her sane at the moment.

She had something to do. She had purpose. She couldn't allow herself to stop and think and even worry about what would happen should she fail.

She was still helping Kate figure out how to completely destabilize the wrong isotope that the Kryptonite Man was using and completely de-power him. She was digging through Cadmus files that she could access, getting more and more back to her certain little hobby of hacking – she was thirteen, she was bored, Lex had been teasing her about knowing something regarding what Lionel was planning for her birthday that she really wanted to know as well as figure out whoever 'nice boy' her mom had wanted to invite for her to meet and ruin the whole thing, and that was what started everything really, Lex's increasing illegal activities was what kept it up – and she was putting all her spare efforts into turning L-Corp into realizing her visions for the future of the company, a corporation that makes money while serving people for a change, not the other way around.

And it puts herself at ease, makes her forget her little crisis and calms herself down.

One thing at a time, that's all she needed to do. Take one step and face one little thing at a time.

And maybe soon Kara would come home.

Soon Cadmus would be stopped.

And soon Lena would be free from the long shadows her brother and her mother had cast.

That's how Lena found herself at the astronomy facility talking to the contractors she had hired for the side of the planetarium that Lena had been pushing to be ready for opening come spring time.

She was tired, true, and really her lack of sleep didn't grant her the patience to deal with the excuses they had been giving her all morning as they made their way through the facility.

She found herself stopping in the middle of the second floor terrace, the glass-paned ceiling basking them in glorious sunlight that seemed to have made everything ten times brighter and flooding them with a warmth that Lena readily welcomed. It was a nice change from the stuffy coldness of the wintry weather of National City – although that might be an exaggeration since National City's winter was nothing compared to some of the countries Lena had visited for Christmas time with the Luthors – and the regulated coolness indoors.

"Look, Lena…" one of her hired contractors had dared to say as he argued about the impossibility of the CEO's demands.

Which was a definite wrong move on his part given that Lena's patience was really running on the thin side with him at the moment.

"That's Ms. Luthor to you, Mr. Archibald. When in the last fifty three minutes of you wasting my time by telling me all the reasons why you can't do why I ask you to do did I tell you that you can call me by my first name?" Lena replied, with a rather terse smile.

The tone in her voice was definitely enough to send shivers down one Luke Archibald.

"What my associate means, Ms. Luthor," his partner, Randolph Singh, then said in his attempts to appease Lena, "is that while we normally don't do what you asked in the short amount of time that you want it done, we will do everything in our abilities to meet your standards. We are, after all, incredibly thankful that you chose us for this particular project."

"Thank you, Mr. Singh." Lena then replied, "Now was that so hard to say?" she then added as she turned to Luke and the poor soul nodded in silence.

"Ah, Ms. Luthor…" Randolph then said as she glanced behind Lena, giving a nod towards whatever was behind her.

Lena turned around without saying a word, curious to the interruption, and just when she was finally finding a little bit of enjoyment with seeing someone squirm instead of argue with her.

And though her initial thought was to be annoyed by the sudden intrusion of whatever it was that Randolph Singh thought could not wait another moment, Lena felt whatever heaviness that had descended upon her for the last two weeks when she finally saw what it was.

Or rather who.

Kara smiled and waved rather awkwardly as she stood near the railings of the terrace. Kara Danvers, all in her trademark pastel cardigans, her coat folded over one hand as she stood a few feet away from Lena.

She was there.

She was alive.

All within Lena's reach.

And oh how Lena's heart fluttered at her sight – a part of her was definitely giving herself praise for the glass-paned ceiling idea for at that moment, sunny Kara Danvers shone brighter than any star Lena had ever seen, her own magnificent angel. Relief washed over her heart like a giant tidal wave and Lena welcomed the thought of the cool waters relieving the ache and worry she had felt with her absence.

Just the very act of seeing Kara again after what felt like forever was enough to knock the wind out of her own lungs, but she welcomed that too, especially when Kara leaving felt like a piece of her had gone missing too.

Lena nearly growled when Luke tried to get her attention again – he was ruining the moment for her, a moment she had feared would never come – but she managed to regain her composure – no, she wasn't going to snap at someone, not in front of Kara – and dismissed her current company, asking to reschedule the meeting early Monday morning in the most polite way possible.

The contractors left, Luke Archibald looking incredibly relieved with their dismissal, as they slipped away into the second floor elevators and headed out of the building as soon as they possibly could.

Lena stood there, still in awe as Kara slowly smiled brighter. She looked shy, rather apologetic really, as her fingers fiddled with the hems of her cardigan unsure on how she should approach Lena with her sudden disappearance.

But Lena simply shook her head and smiled, wasting no time in crossing whatever little distance was between them. She reached out and pulled Kara into a warm embraced, reveling at the warmth radiating from her skin, her familiar scent, and the softness of her touch as Kara pulled her closer with her strong arms. She was home. Kara was home.

And Lena was as well.

It never seizes to amaze Lena how Kara's embrace made her feel safe and protected despite the tender touch. Here was a girl who could bend any metal with her own hands and yet Lena never felt so sheltered and secure.

She pulled briefly a way, pressing her forehead close to Kara's before giving her a chaste kiss on her lips, then her cheeks, before once again burying her head in the crook of Kara's neck. She could feel Kara smile through the kiss, her arms pulling her impossibly closer into their tight embrace.

Lena placed a gentle kiss on the crook of her neck and then on her shoulder, her lipstick leaving a light mark on Kara's pink cardigan, before once again meeting Kara's lips.

Really she just wanted for the moment to last forever, have Kara hold her close like this, never let her go.

But she knew she can't. It was just the two of them on the second floor but Lena does have a few employees roaming about, and now was not the time to drag Kara into some scandal should anyone start spreading rumors about L-Corp's CEO seeing one of Catco's reporters.

No, they have to do this right.

Lena pulled away with a sigh, a gentle smile still dancing around her lips not over the fact that _her_ Kara was back.

"Glad to know we're still doing _that_." Kara then said beaming and Lena could help but chuckle.

 _Kara Danvers, the most adorable dork in the world._ Lena thought to herself.

"Well you did scare me a bit back there. You were gone for two weeks Kara, and without even leaving a word as to why. I thought I might have chased you away." Lena then teasingly said. She wanted to let Kara know that she was worried but she didn't want to give her too much of a hard time explaining why she went away.

Because Lena knew that Kara would start rambling on and on trying to come up with an excuse why she left.

And Kara was incredibly adorable when she's all flustered and rambling.

Making Lena want to kiss her again, except this time, she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to stop.

"That's not why…" Kara immediately started to explain already getting flustered and Lena decided to cut her short there.

"Don't worry Kara, your sister explained it all to me. I understand, it was for family." Lena then replied as she took a step backward, her hands trailing down Kara's arms before holding her hands as she pulled away a little.

"Right." Kara replied nodding, briefly looking away. "And about that," she continued to say, turning her attention back to Lena, "are you okay? I heard what happened. Lena, I'm so sorry I wasn't here." she added pulling Lena back into a hug.

Lena chuckled once again, pulling away from Kara. As much as she would want to stay in her arms forever, she could sense that Kara did want to talk about something.

"So, Kara, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Lena then asked, fully separating herself from the blonde and stepping closer to the railings, her hands resting on the cool metal bar that lined the glass fences.

"I wanted to apologize for leaving without saying a word." Kara started to say, her hands finding the railings as well as she leaned on them. "I didn't think I would be gone for as long as I was." she admitted, her blue eyes staring down her own hands.

"You needed to, I can't place fault on that. I do hope that everything's okay." Lena then replied. She saw Kara turn to face her and smile, her way of a silent 'thank you for understanding'.

"You know," Kara then started to say, "when I was gone I did… well… I found myself thinking about you a lot. _Us_ , actually."

Lena nodded, her eyes staying on Kara's fighting the urge to look away. She could feel her heart start to pick up its pace, anticipation building.

She wanted to know what Kara was thinking about. She wanted to know what Kara thought about what was going on between _them_.

"Look, Lena, I like you." Kara continued to say, cutting to the chase.

"I can tell Kara, considering we've kissed a lot." Lena then replied with a bit of a nervous chuckle. She bit her lip and looked down on their hands on the railing, their fingers barely inches away. "But?" she then found the courage to ask.

"But?" Kara asked, looking a whole lot confused.

"Kara," Lena then said, keeping her voice calm and soft, she never felt this lost or out of control of a conversation she was involved in and yet here she was, hanging onto every word that Kara said, wanting to know in clear definition what they mean. "What you said and how you said it usually precedes a 'but'."

"I… I like you… like, I _like_ you, a lot." Kara found herself struggling to say as her faced flushed a deep crimson and suddenly Lena understood what she was saying.

That Kara _felt_ deeply for her but she just couldn't… and well Lena couldn't bring herself to say them out loud either… It was just… it's too early for anything _like_ that.

And that Kara seemed to still be realizing the depth of her own feelings for Lena as she spoke.

"Le-lena… I-I was wondering if…" Kara then started to stutter as she shyly smiled at Lena, trying to get the words out.

"Dinner?" Lena provided for her.

"Yes." Kara replied as she took a deep breath to calm herself. Somehow Lena couldn't help but wonder if her heart was beating just as fast as hers was.

"Tonight?" Lena then asked hopefully wishing to whatever God existed that _no one_ does anything stupid tonight that would need Supergirl's heroics to resolve or she swore she would make them pay dearly.

"Yes." Kara reaffirmed.

"Say eight?" Lena then added, smile growing bigger by the minute.

"Yes." Kara replied, her confidence building.

"Just to be sure, Kara Danvers, are you asking me out on a date?" Lena then asked coyly, her pinky finger brushing Kara's on the railings as Kara herself found herself shaking her head and laughing.

"Yes." Kara found herself saying as she nervously giggled and Lena couldn't help but share the same sentiments as Kara.

"I would love to." she then replied softly as she turned to face her.

Kara mirrored Lena's actions and reached out to hold her hands in her own. "Cool, yeah, tonight at eight it is." Kara replied beaming. "Um, I'll pick you up?"

Lena nodded. "How about you swing by and I make you dinner? You did go through that effort of asking me out." she then teased.

Kara shook her head as her hands hid her face briefly, Kara making a sound at her disastrous attempts to 'smoothly ask the girl out'. But nevertheless, Kara nodded and when her eyes once again met Lena's own she leaned forward to press her lips on her forehead.

"Can't wait." Kara replied with the biggest brightest smile on her face.

And Lena swore that for the first time she could feel her heart swell.

* * *

 

Cat had to admit, she didn't see her Saturday turning out to be quite like it was. True to her word of slowly relinquishing control of running Catco to James Olsen as her initial abrupt dive proved to be more difficult to do with the happenings at National City, she wasn't planning on coming in at all.

But then came the lunch hour and a restaurant had a gas leak somewhere near North Avenue and who comes in and saves the day?

The one and only Supergirl, that's who.

New life was breathed over National City just like that as their favorite superhero returns. The city spent the whole day speculating what happened? Why had she gone? Where did she go?

One save after another, from the gas leak incident at the restaurant to a halted bank robbery that late afternoon, heck, to even cats stuck on trees everywhere, Supergirl was there to save the day, making up for her absence the best she could and in all the ways possible.

So what was Cat Grant to do? She just _had_ to come in on a Saturday late afternoon.

And what does she arrive to at Catco? Snapper Carr yelling at his staff about getting to it with the Supergirl story all while giving the lengthiest of lectures to her former assistant, who, was undoubtedly back in town as well.

While pretty much every single major media outlet was running stories on Supergirl the whole day, Cat couldn't help but wonder if she could score another decent exclusive with the Girl of Steel. Kara Danvers had volunteered on that end but was immediately shut down by Snapper who assigned her on a fluff piece about National City's upcoming Christmas events.

Despite the barrage of verbal abuse from her new boss, however, Kara had remained resilient and happy. Cat knew her former assistant was a bubble of sunshine even on rainy days but she had to admit, she couldn't help but wonder why she was still so happy after her encounter with Snapper.

Cat sighed as she sipped on her scotch and admired the city below her that evening, tired but somewhat happy that their city was once again in safe hands. National City's own guardian angel had returned and whether or not she gets that exclusive – she was really banking on getting it – she was just glad that Supergirl was back. And perhaps Supergirl was also just happy to be back as well.

"I heard I owed you my gratitude, Ms. Grant, for keeping the message of hope alive while I was gone." Cat heard Supergirl say, much to her surprise, as the superhero landed on her balcony with ease. "But I think that's not enough. I should thank you for being an inspiration to everyone, including me, so thank you. Very much." she went on with all the sincerity she could muster.

Cat simply smiled and graciously accepted her thanks. "But if I can remind you about a little talk we had about a year ago, you can't disappear like that. People on this city depend on you. Heroes and vigilantes can pop up, take up new mantles and put on capes or brandish a shield but they're not _you_. You're the one everyone looks up to and counts on. Why were you gone anyways? And can this be Catco exclusive interview?" Cat went on, taking this as her opportunity to ask Supergirl about giving answers to her disappearance.

"I know." Supergirl said looking thoughtful before she smiled at Cat and nodded. Cat pulled up the recorder app on her phone just as she gave her reply. "Friends from elsewhere needed my help to save their…" she proceeded to explain as she looked for the right words to say "… _cities_ " she settled on, "and I wasted no time in helping them. Time _escaped_ me, however, and the threat proved to be more difficult to deal with. It won't happen again Ms. Grant, not if I can help it, but in the case that it does happen again, I know I can count on you to keep the hope alive." Supergirl then concluded, answering the question on everyone's mind at the moment.

"But where did you go?" Cat followed up. "Who were this friends? Did that _Blur_ or _Flash_ fellow who visited National City have anything to do with this? What was the threat?"

Kara simply shook her head just as her feet lifted off of the balcony. She hovered for a brief moment as she addressed Cat's questions. "I wish I could tell you Ms. Grant, but it's not that easy to explain."

"Leaving so soon?" Cat then asked. "The explanation couldn't be that bad. Perhaps you can give me a hint?"

Supergirl shook her head again. "I'm sorry but I do have to go Ms. Grant, and it really is rather complicated."

"Anyone else need saving tonight?" Cat pressed on.

"No, I have a date." Supergirl mumbled but Cat still somehow heard. She then looked up in surprise, having realized what she just said, her face as red as her own cape.

"Oh?" Cat then said with a smile. "Supergirl has a date?" she asked, repeating Kara's own words. "This person must be really special if you're too excited about a date that you accidentally slip that information in an interview. Can this be o-"

" _Off_ the record." Supergirl immediately said. "Please Ms. Grant. I don't think I have to explain why."

"I'm well aware of the dangers of dating a superhero but it's good to know that Supergirl isn't single." Cat then replied. "So who's Mr. -?"

"Nice try Ms. Grant, but I won't be revealing my name or the name of this person to you." Supergirl then replied, her usual confidence starting to return. "And second of all, there is no mister anyone…" she shyly admitted before flying away.

Cat found herself nodding thoughtfully to herself with the little bit of info Supergirl had granted her to know.

She took comfort on the knowledge that perhaps the Kryptonian didn't just see her as a mentor but also as a friend to trust her with that information.

Cat thought that Supergirl was right, best to keep that information to herself.

But a part of her was both happy and wary that her suspicions were correct.

That Supergirl, no, that Kara Danvers, had unwittingly found herself falling for a _Luthor_ , and while L-Corp's own CEO had proven to be an ally so far, Cat still found herself feeling very protective of her superhero.

She made a note to herself to keep a closer eye on Lena Luthor because of it.

* * *

 

Lena was humming, _humming_ of all things, in her kitchen as she made final preparations.

Sure there was the Cadmus death, and as Kate pointed out there was a rather vague unexpected alien threat – that Kate kept insisting that 'they've got it' and that Lena shouldn't worry about it since she already has a lot on her playe – and of course there's the usual daily threats of the city that Supergirl seemingly has handled during her first day back, but that wasn't going to impede on her happiness at the moment.

No.

The last two weeks were terrible.

If life without Kara was insufferable in the amount of fourteen days then she couldn't imagine what life completely without her would feel.

Sure there were threats to face and deal with, but they would face them when they come.

Because Lena still wanted to live. And Kara's return reminded her how good it felt for the sun to kiss her skin and live in the light for once.

"I mean would you rather live without her? Rather not have no matter how short of a moment you have with her?" she remembered Kate asking her when she dropped by earlier in the afternoon after getting back from the astronomy facility. Her words now echoing in her head.

Because there was a simple answer to that question, a simple truth.

Lena wanted to get no matter how short of a forever she was allowed to spend with Kara because living a life without loving Kara Danvers and not being loved by her is a cursed existence she just couldn't bare think of.

Sure, the first half of her visit was mostly about her asking Lena's opinion on actual family and 'work' stuff relating to the Hamiltons, what with the inauguration of the Hamilton's National City offices and the new building with the Kane's name on it.

"Because there _is_ going to be a party, and dear God my step-mother would be there, so I was thinking of making the festivities _fun_. How about a dating bid? What do you think?" Kate had asked and Lena could already imagine what kind of uncomfortable scenarios she wanted to put her step-mother in.

She still hasn't exactly come around with a few things about Kate and she _loved_ any chance she could get to make her squirm a little. All for fun of course.

"No." Lena simply answered as she shook her head with a smile. "At the very least I won't agree to be _in_ it."

"Not even for charity?" Kate had then asked with a pout.

"Don't guilt trip me into this and ruin my night." was Lena's reply, seeing as she may have found her opening to telling her about her date. "I'm not signing on to any of your inane ideas."

"Oh? Well, I was actually thinking of asking Supergirl to join? I mean, knowing you, you'll win the bid easily." she then said with a grin. "Think about it, a Luthor and a Super on a date for charity, that would make your mom's stomach churn and hopefully Lex's too."

"Leave her out of this Kate or your luck with evading death will run out." she gave as a reply, still smiling but the look in her eyes was enough to tell Kate to not even joke about it. Ever. Again. Batwoman or not.

And sure, the second half hour of Kate's earlier visit was Lena expelling nervous energy – and she was just thankful that for once in her life Kate Kane was actually there when she needed her and that she didn't have to be alone in being excited about having her first date with _the_ girl – and Kate teasing her about how there was shockingly a happy, rambling, mess of a girl deep inside Lena Luthor, but she was still thankful for it.

Of course Kate apologized eventually and gave her a hug saying that she was just happy for her but Lena had to glare at her for a good fifteen minutes before she finally took things seriously with picking an outfit.

Because yes, Lena knew and was the master of picking clothes to _slay_ people in any and every occasion, but she needed to pick an outfit for a date with _Kara Danvers_.

And she's never had someone like Kara before. Never.

She wanted everything to be perfect.

Kate had stared at her in disbelief the entire time, smiling and shaking her head. "Boy, do you really have it bad."

"I think I actually do." Lena had honestly replied almost in a whisper as she hurriedly cleaned up the mess of her wardrobe that had then been scattered all over her room. Kate teased her with something along the lines of 'what do you think's going to happen tonight that you're obsessively cleaning' that most definitely earned her a pillow to the face before she finally let up and eased on the teasing.

Somehow, however, no matter the teasing, no matter the witticisms and banter, Lena knew she failed to expel most of said nervous energy.

She kept it simple that night and Kate had very easily agreed with her decision on keeping it simple but classy and elegant with her outfit as well. The date wasn't a game of seduction, it wasn't some _formality_ before moving onto other _activities._ It was a serious date. With Kara.

It should be romantic and memorable and just… _perfect_.

Lena just wanted it to be about them. To be about her and Kara.

Besides, it was time to just _be_ and really get to know each other.

Not that they haven't been doing that whenever they hung out, but somehow, Lena felt that this was different.

Special.

Like they've been taking baby steps and now they're trying to tread into the unknown with a bit more confidence and daring.

And Lena was happy with her decisions. Cooking dinner for Kara was the best idea she could have come up with. Going out with her would have attracted attention, while L-Corp was slowly phasing out of the news after the robbery at her R and D division, the media was always looking for a reason to drag the Luthor name into the news.

Case in point, all of Lex's marriages and affairs were public knowledge.

That's why Lena had always been careful about her own indiscretions.

For now though, she loved the intimacy of the setting, she loved that Kara's eyes shone brighter than the stars like the happiest child in the world, buzzing with compliments on Lena's cooking when she tasted the food, and she loved that she gets Kara all to herself.

That she doesn't have to share her to the world for good while.

Hoping that the world decides to behave for a night, that is to say.

The two ended up watching a movie together on Lena's couch, the couch where they first kissed, making Lena feel a little blush creep onto her cheeks. She let Kara choose the movie this time, with Kara settling on _The Princess Bride_ for a safe bet.

The two had a bowl of popcorn between them, the conversation flowing rather easily about everything and anything. Lena didn't push on asking Kara what she did while she was away, while Kara kept slipping up with 'truths' all evening long that Lena couldn't help but wonder if she'd end up slipping up about her secret at some point.

At one point Kara admitted that she had been too excited and happy and nervous to function as she prepared for the date and rambled on about how she had to call Alex, and of course if Alex was coming then Maggie was coming, and how she needed to find the perfect outfit for the night.

And Lena let Kara ramble on about how her sister was mostly just confused about what Kara was talking about with Maggie deciphering the whole situation.

"You told them you kissed me?" Lena asked, her voice barely a whisper, the whole thing catching her by surprise. Not that Kara had easily admitted to her sister and her sister's girlfriend that they were on a date tonight, now was that bit information wasn't shocking enough – because _wow_ , the fact that DEO agents haven't stormed into her apartment just yet, or at least, Kara's very protective older sister hasn't given her a long threatening talk was a bit  surprising to be honest, granted that no one else but Kate knows that Lena knew Kara's secret – but the fact that Kara had admitted to her feelings, to kissing Lena without shame of being associated to a Luthor or without being just a casual name drop to boost her ego was a fresh change for her.

Plus, it was a bonus that Kara didn't make Alex think this was all Lena, that Kara was owning up to her own actions and was in this with her.

Whatever _this_ was.

"I tell Alex everything." Kara then replied honestly. "Okay, maybe not _everything,_ everything but yeah."

"And she's not… well… mad or upset that you're on a date with a _Luthor_?"

Kara sighed and leaned over to kiss Lena on the forehead, her lips gently pressing on her skin. "Would you please stop saying your name like a _curse_? You're different Lena. You're unique and special. You can make a name for your own, give a new meaning to what being a Luthor is." she had said with a smile and Lena couldn't believe her own luck that she's found someone like Kara in her life. That their paths even crossed at all.

In some weird and strange way she actually had Lex to thank for this, his constant threats and machinations. It would have been nice to meet Kara in a different way, a _better_ way, true, but still.

"And no." Kara continued to say. "I mean, she could tell how I feel for you from the start and really, at the end of the day, Alex is all for what makes me happy. Really, she's just upset I didn't tell her sooner. Made her feel like I was keeping you a secret and, if I may quote what she said, 'If Lena is as great as you keep telling me, then you better apologize to her for not being upfront with your sister about little developments in your relationship and hiding whatever it was going on between the two of you'!" she said, doing her best impression of Alex as she could.

Lena chuckled a little, movie all but forgotten at that point. "Good to know _I_ make you happy and that _you_ talk to your sister about _me._ " she commented making Kara blush a little.

"I did tell her I almost kissed you in your office that very same afternoon and she told me to think about how I really felt. I may have forgotten to tell her that I… well I-I…" she started to mumble, cheeks flushing a deeper red, and it seemed to occur to Kara that they were, in fact, sitting on the exact same spot where she had kissed Lena in the first place.

Lena realized this and quickly pressed her lips against Kara's, a chaste kiss, as she grinned. "Well I for one am glad you did that night." she then said, before moving away and Kara simply smiled shyly back. "Hmmm, you never did tell me why the 'destroying planets' bit of movies get you. I do believe that's when you had mistaken my question to what you were doing in my apartment at an ungodly hour." she then said, half-teasing Kara as the reporter made an 'Oh' sound and started fumbling on the hems of the sleeves of her shirt.

Kara's shy smile faltered a little and Lena felt like she hit something a bit too close to _home_ for Kara in every sense of the word and decided to back up a little.

She didn't want to push if Kara wasn't ready to talk about it. Lena was curious, sure, because she wanted to know why Kara found herself on earth in the first place, but she wasn't going to force her to tell her anything she wasn't ready to talk about. 

But before she could say anything to put Kara at ease, the blonde had chosen to stop her, instead opening up about how her parents died.

She didn't say much along the lines of planets and space but she did admit that her parents died in an explosion, some great big fire that consumed every bit of her home and that planets exploding or being eradicated in movies made her remember the feeling of losing everything in an instant.

And Lena understood in that instant that Kara's planet had died, her suspicions were right all along.

Kara's eyes, those impeccable blue eyes that Lena swore held the answers to the secrets of galaxies and universes, were glassy as she smiled uneasily.

Smiling through the heartache that she had experienced, that she still felt.

And once again Lena was in awe of Kara's resilience, of the strong but fragile heart that chose to see the light, the heart that chose to spread love and kindness and all the good in the world despite her own tragedies.

If anything, it made her fall for Kara even more, feeling herself starting to get teary eyed as well as she could only imagine what Kara felt at the moment. It made her want to be better, to do more good, to be deserving of having to be entrusted with that resilient heart.

Because she, more than anyone else, knew what that felt.

No, she doesn't remember her parents or what their last name had been other than she was Lena; the last piece her parents left behind with her was her first name.

And if losing her parents when she could barely remember them felt like her whole world had crumbled then Lena could only imagine the magnitude of what losing your parents along with your whole planet, society, culture, religion and legacy felt like.

Of what being one of the last of their kind was.

She pulled Kara into a tight embrace, burying her face into the crook of her neck. She'll forever thank the stars for helping Kara find her way to earth, for carrying her safely throughout whatever vast journey she had been on, whether Kara knew it or not. Because Lena was lucky.

She knew she was lucky before, to have Kara as a friend.

More so now that she was slowly opening up to her, letting her see a side of her that no one else had seen.

And she hoped against hope that her parents knew just how remarkable their daughter had become. How much the people around her treasured her, how she's made a great difference on the life of people around her as Kara Danvers and as Supergirl.

"Lena…" Kara then said, as she felt Kara's hands wrap around her tightly. "I'm sorry." she then heard her say and Lena had realize that her tears had started to stain Kara's neck.

 _And of course Kara would apologize for something like that._ Lena thought to herself.

"Don't be an idiot." Lena found herself saying. "I'm just overwhelmed and amazed by you."

Kara let out a chuckle. "Well, that's good to hear cause I'm also kind of amazed by you." she heard Kara say.

And if she could dare say, first date or not, Lena could feel herself brave enough to admit the truth.

That she was most definitely falling in love with Kara Danvers…

…with the girl who fell from the sky only to find her way to Lena.

* * *

 

"Head in the game Danvers." Alex heard Kate say as she stood near the exit of the training room she had tricked out to serve their purpose. It was the third time that Alex fell from the beam in the last half hour and Alex was a little thankful for the privacy. J'onn had let them use it in whatever was they wanted knowing full well what kind of training Kate could give Alex, the two of them alone for the most part with training.

She understood that training was essential, improving and learning new tricks too. And she's got a nifty little schedule training set-up. Kate said that Alex's basic training with the DEO was quite impressive already, her marksmanship top notch and her hand to hand combat skills could give even Cameron Chase, the DEO's most prized agent, a run for her money. Kate also conceded that she could possibly learn a thing or two from Alex to build her own already extensive chemical knowledge, something that Alex didn't expect she would already have if she were being honest.

But Kate noticed quite a lot of flaws with other tiny details, from Alex's form, how she shifts her weight, the limits of her fighting style and adaptability to the environment… in that she most definitely could not fly, and she's not exactly a building-hopping vigilante like Batman, or Nightwing, or Batwoman herself.

Hence the acrobatic training that Kate had asked Nightwing's help to design.

And the Gymnastics training that they were currently focusing on since Kate was apparently a senior elite level gymnast.

Kate also wanted to build on Alex's stamina a little bit, agility which Kate noted was already remarkable with a rather teasing tone, as well as build up Alex's arsenal of weapons she can master, add a bit more variety to her fighting style, and share a thing or two on her know how of being an escape artist.

She also pulled Winn in at some point for basic training for him in exchange for getting Alex on par with their hacking skills.

And Alex had to admit that she may have overly underestimated Kate in the past, but then again she didn't know she was Batwoman back then.

Because her training was definitely hell.

If Alex would allow herself to be honest, a part of her hated the training. It was like a crash course in endlessly improving and adding skills she couldn't really see would be useful, especially when you have the DEO to back you up, but Kate had made a good point to her one argument a few days ago.

"If you keep relying on the DEO to come to your aid when you find yourself beaten to a corner, you'll be waiting for a miracle. Not every DEO agent gets to be saved in the nick of time. You can't be complacent Alex, especially now that your sister is out to the world as Supergirl saving the day. If you want to protect her, you have to be able to rely on yourself alone, know that you can go on a mission cut-off from everything else, the support you've gotten used to, and handle the situation well." Kate lectured. "What if one day you need to save Kara, and the DEO is down and can't operate the way they usually can?"

"Then I'll shoot whoever stands in my way to save my sister. You already said I'm a good marksman." Alex had replied as her frustrations were getting the best of her.

"You _can't_ kill _everyone_ who stands in your way." Kate argued sounding exasperated.

"What, you never wanted to kill anyone so badly?" Alex retorted back. "I'm not a vigilante, I'm not under Batman's rules. I'm going to do everything in my power to save my sister, even if –"

"It crosses a line?" Kate had thrown back at her, her tone serious. "Well then, tell me Agent Danvers, what would you do when the day comes and the person who stands in your way is someone you _don't_ want to kill? If it's someone you want to save? What if something possess or corrupts J'onn or Mags and whatever's taken control of them wants to kill Kara? What if Winn gets tortured of brainwashed into hurting Supergirl? Would shooting them really be the answer? Learning multiple ways of how to fight is essential to incapacitate your opponent without killing them."

Alex had that little schpill playing on repeat the past couple of days as she found no words to come to her aid and formulate a counter argument.

It didn't help that she now understood what Kate had meant when the redhead told her of what happened to her sister.

Abducted when they were twelve, seeing the lifeless and bloody body of her mom and her sister – which didn't actually turn out to be her sister – when they were rescued, having to face her sister again after having to endure whatever it was that she went through with the group who took her.

Kate had a point.

Sometimes the person we fight and need to stop are the ones we want to save.

And again, if Alex were being honest, a part of her had grown to admire Kate Kane. The same part who wanted to push forward and become better than what she already was.

Someone who could protect and save the people she loved in whatever situation they were in.

"Need help standing up?" she then heard Kate's voice call after her.

"No, I'm fine. But maybe a five minute break?" Alex asked shaking off her fall and Kate simply nodded before moving towards Alex with a towel and a bottle of water. "Thanks." Alex muttered under her breath as she accepted the two items from Kate.

"What's on your mind Danvers?" Kate then asked. "Don't worry, made sure that the room was soundproof when I rigged it up for training, wanted to make sure they couldn't hear the sounds of your despair outside."

Alex attempted to whip the towel towards her arm but Kate was quick to catch it and disarm her much to her chagrin. She shook her head and drank a bit of water as she weighed out on her decision to tell the socialite about what was on her mind.

A certain little blonde reporter that was her sister and a certain little date with a CEO.

Kate started laughing as Alex told her story of how much Kara was freaking out all while being excited about a date with Lena Luthor – Alex saying Lena's name as a whisper in case other DEO agents managed to find a way to eavesdrop on them.

"She did the same thing." Kate then found herself admitting and Alex looked at her incredulously, mostly because she couldn't picture the usually calm and put-together image of Lena to be anything like the excitable puppy that was her sister. "Out of character?" Kate asked, chuckling, "I know but I think that's a good thing. I've never seen Lena happy or excited about anything. I think they're good for each other."

"What makes you say that?" Alex then asked although lately she was starting to think the same. She saw how much Kara was growing more confident in subtle ways, in becoming more open and happy too.

She just couldn't help but worry about Lena's family.

"I think they can bring out the best in each other by sharing completely different views. They can paint the whole picture together, you know? See something that alone they wouldn't be able to."

"I think you might be right." Alex then admitted. "I just can't believe that Kara was the one to kiss Lena first."

Kate chuckled. "I share the same sentiments Danvers." she agreed just as Kara came stomping in, tablet in hand, like a lost and confused puppy with Winn right behind her.

She looked up and somehow both Kate and Alex could tell that seeing them sort of hanging out together while taking a break made her even the more confused.

"I can't believe I also missed three Cadmus lab raids!" she said as she exhaled, shoving the tablet back to Winn a little too hard.

"Hey, easy there Supergirl." Winn wheezed, having the wind knocked out of him by the tablet that hit him in the chest.

"Sorry." Kara mumbled, Alex remembering the raids they had of the Cadmus lab at Keystone City.

She had been with Kate then, seeing first hand two incubation tubes with the roman numerals 'IX' and 'X' inscribed on them, with 'X' looking a bit like and aged Clark with sparse red hair and a certain few mutations and 'IX' more of a haunting sight, looking rather old and thin with brown hair and protruding bones. Kate had downloaded the information from the ports of their tanks while Alex studied whatever files she could pull up on the little monitors to their side but most of the information where heavily encrypted. The only thing she could get were records on failing vitals, a log book for 'maturation' and notes on what they could do to improve 'the model'.

The whole thing felt wrong and listening to Kate tell them that they're looking for Project 13 and that experiment number eleven was still left unfound left a bad taste in Alex's mouth.

Somehow she could tell, even just by looking at them up close, that Cadmus was playing with genetic engineering.

The two other raids were at Amnesty Bay and Stryker's Island near Metropolis. She remembered Clark being incredibly upset at the fact that he missed the location of a Cadmus lab there. J'onn argued that it was a small underground lab that was lined with lead but whatever experiments they were running there couldn't have been pretty. Cadmus had pretty much closed up shop and barely anything was left behind, just a weird metallic ore that Clark took to the fortress to identify after they realized that it didn't contain any element from earth.

The raid at Amnesty bay had been pretty simple, in comparison. Lucy came back to help for a little while, leading a small force of DEO agents but everything seemed to have already been taken care of when they got there by a very angry – and in Lucy's words, 'merman kind of person' – with blond hair. He went on a long lecture about how he shut down the labs himself after realizing that Cadmus had been discarding their experimental wastes into the ocean.

Alex remembered that raid fondly. "Who knew a Cadmus facility would be shut down because of water pollution?" Winn had joked and even Lucy had found it funny.

Before, of course, she ended up fangirling over Katherine "Candy" Kane. While they most definitely didn't spend time together at West Point, very narrowly missing each other because of Kate being discharged, she became some sort of legend that some revered.

Not to mention that Lucy caught wind of her undocumented missions with the Navy S.E.A.L.S and the British Special Air Service. Alex was sure that she had the most fun she had that afternoon since Kara left, with James trying to wrap his head around how Lucy was fawning over the rather flirtatious Kate. That at it did make her happy that someone was actually jealous of the hellish training she was getting because Lucy most definitely wished to be in Alex's position.

"Don't worry about it. The important thing is you're here now, Supergirl." Kate then said as she stood up, clapping her arms together. "I believe the five minutes are up, Agent Danvers."

Alex groaned and before she knew it she was back to training once more.

And she still didn't have the chance to ask Kara how her date went.

But, form the looks of it, despite the all business attitude Kara was trying to push forward as she tried to convince everyone that she was back in action and taking her role as Supergirl seriously – something she adopted since J'onn's very long early morning lecture – that all went well.

That is, Alex thought, if the smile trying to tug at the corners of Kara's lips the whole day were an indication of anything.

* * *

 

"Maybe you should train me as well." Kate heard Kara say with a serious look on her face after calling it a day. She had spent most of her morning being lectured by J'onn and watching Alex train before she did a bit of training with Mon-El and M'gann herself. It had been a rather quiet Sunday after the news of the return of Supergirl broke everywhere the other day.

Kara managed to find herself back at their training room after her own little training session, Maggie arguing with Kate about pushing Alex too much too soon. But Kara had her eyes on her sister the whole time. She was tired, true, making her understand Maggie's concern. But the determined look on Alex face, the proud little smile she had on her face when she accomplished Kate's task, it was clear that Kate's training had its own positive effects on her.

"I don't know Supergirl, I'm not an expert in training Kryptonians." Kate replied thoughtfully. She wouldn't even know where to begin with developing a training regimen that would purposefully be tailored to Kara's skills. "Although," she then said, remembering something Superman and Batman had recently talked about with another one of their friends, "I do know a certain Amazonian princess who's been dying to train you since last year. I'll try and put in a good word for you."

Kara laughed a little, a bit shy. "So…" Kara then said, "You're, you know… Batwoman." she said in a whisper.

Kate simply nodded. No, the rest of the DEO agents still didn't know, but yes, she had allowed Alex to explain to Kara during their second break why she had accepted Kate's offer for training.

Other than that, only Winn – because she may or may not have thrown him to the ground when he laughed at the idea of him training under her and Alex a little – and J'onn.

Mon-El didn't seem to care much, and neither did M'gann, on who she was, just that she was an ally.

And James sort of already knew thanks to Clark but he was keeping whatever he knew to himself.

"What's on your mind?" Kate then asked realizing that Kara was trying to figure out how to word what she was going to say carefully.

"I'm just… I'm worried about Lena. The constant attacks at L-Corp, Cadmus, and everything. Maybe you should train her too?" Kara asked.

And Kate laughed before realizing that Kara was indeed dead serious about it. "If Lena wanted my help, she would ask. You shouldn't underestimate her, Kara. She did have a bit of self-defense lessons for a while, especially at the height Lex's insanity. Dangerous times and all." Kate replied. "But if you're worried about her, maybe you should suggest that to her. She won't listen to me on that end."

"Why not? You're friends."

"Have you met Lena? She's insanely stubborn." Kate replied, remembering her long and tiring fight with Lena regarding her _brilliant_ idea of playing double agent with Cadmus. While it did prove to be helpful, it was also very much stressful for Kate.

A lot of things can go wrong if they're not careful and she's been doing all she could to make sure that Cadmus wasn't onto Lena because she knew that all she could do was to make sure that Lena had all the help she could.

Once the girl made up her mind, there's no stopping her, and Kate knew that too well.

But she might actually listen to Kara.

Kara nodded. "Thanks for offering to train Alex though. I wasn't sure if you like her or not and that's why you always gave her a hard time on your visits."

"Oh come on, Supergirl, you ought to know by now. I don't make it easy on people I like, and I'm just as fond of her as I am of you." Kate then said, Kara shaking her head with a smile, before she bid her farewell and headed back to her base.

It had been a long day of training.

And it was only going to be an even longer night ahead with her vigil.

Kate, of course, had no idea just how right she was.

"Batwoman, come in, remember when you told me to keep watch of unusual spikes?" she heard Oracle through her speakers in her little base as she worked on cracking a few files.

"What's up Oracle?" Kate was quick to ask, reaching for the cowl part of her suit, and within seconds she was roaring and ready to go jump into action.

"There's a few weird spikes all over the city. Clouds of Tachyons and some weird energy source, I can't really tell." Oracle then reported. "There's a concentrated amount at L-Corp plaza, I'd head there now if I were you. There's also one at the DEO but I think it's safe to say that one's handled."

"Already on my way." Batwoman replied, the roar of the engine of her motorcycle cutting through the night as she raced towards L-Corp.

She parked somewhere nearby and headed up to the rooftops of the tall skyscrapers that surrounded L-corp just in time for a flash of bright lights in Lena's office.

She prayed, something she doesn't really do, that Lena wasn't working that night only to find that the CEO was _indeed_ in her office.

A woman in a red leather garb was staggering by the balcony as she tried to find her bearing. Kate landed on the balcony in time for her to turn around, ready to reach an arrow but she managed to incapacitate her with ease before making her way into Lena's office, Lena clutching on a gun looking material that Kate couldn't help but think is something she invented on her own to protect herself against any future Cadmus attack. She was currently switching her aim between the man and woman inside her office.

A man in a similar green outfit, hood propped up on his head, had his arrow drawn in his bow. Behind him was a blonde woman with glasses, clutching some sort of tablet close to her looking thoroughly confused.

The man dropped his bow just as Batwoman pulled out a batarang. "Batwoman." he said, his voice distorted by some sort of device. He raised a hand to stop his cohort on the balcony, who was about to place an arrow in the shaft of her bow.

"You know each other?" asked a very distressed sounding Lena.

"No." Kate replied honestly.

"We've met before." the green hooded figure argued. "I ended up stumbling into Gotham chasing after one of our rogues. I met you, Nightwing, Batman, Oracle, two very different Robins…"

"I think I would remember that." Kate adamantly replied not letting her guard drop.

"Oh sweet baby Jesus, I think I realized what just happened." she heard the woman behind him say.

"You dropped into my office from a weird time-space cloud made of Tachyons." Lena then said, pointing out the obvious.

"Uh, about that…" the woman with glasses then started to say.

And things suddenly started to connect in the back of Kate's mind.

Kara had gone saving another earth, which meant…

"You're from another earth. One where Batman and company also exists." Kate then said as she lowered her guard, looking behind Lena who also lowered her weapon down.

"Another earth…" Lena repeated.

"Are you saying we're not in _our_ Star City anymore?" the red hooded girl then said stepping inside the office from the balcony.

"First of all, you're in National City." Kate then said.

"Ah, did say National City?" the girl in glasses then asked looking a bit more hopeful. "By any chance do you know…"

"Overwatch? Speedy, Green Arrow, what are you doing here?" Kate then heard Kara say, landing on the balcony of Lena's office and stepping inside. "Ms. Luthor, are you okay?" she quickly asked, rushing to Lena's side to check she was fine.

"Friends of yours, Supergirl?" Lena then asked just as Green Arrow looked over and asked rather confused about a 'Ms. Luthor?' and if she were 'Lex's wife or something'.

"Lex would be my _brother_." Lena replied, not having missed a thing, her tone a little sharp. "And if it's him you're after, I'm afraid you're a little late. He's already in prison block X."

"Supergirl, what on earth is happening?" Kate then asked, thoroughly confused, before Green Arrow could fully ask his follow up question.

"I, um, I think we might be having a little bit of a situation." Kara then said and Kate could already feel she wasn't going to like whatever kind of 'situation' this was.

* * *

 

Maggie was in the DEO, making sure that her girlfriend doesn't overdo whatever over the top training regimen Kate had her on as soon as her duty was over. She had slowly become a welcomed addition at the DEO, along with James who was currently preparing for his nightly duties as Guardian with Winn, especially with the last few weeks.

She knew Alex still hasn't told J'onn about what exactly her relationship with Maggie was, mostly because there was never really a good moment with all the crazy things they've been responding too, although a part of Maggie already felt like J'onn knew.

He would give her a welcoming nod every time she arrived, talk to her about Alex from time to time, and Maggie could tell he was waiting for Alex to clarify things with him before giving Maggie his own version of a shovel talk, not wanting to cross any boundaries.

And Maggie wasn't sure how that would go coming from a Green Martian and all, but that would most certainly be interesting to hear.

She was with Alex and Kara, having just finished eating dinner – the two wanted to go over a few last minute details on what Kara had missed in her time away – when the weird cloud that had appeared during Thanksgiving in the middle of Kara's apartment started to form in the middle of the DEO's base.

Needless to say, the three of them rushed to the hubbub as the cloud spit out a man in some weird looking robotic suit, a thug looking tough guy with a tech-based gun Maggie's never seen before, and a blonde woman in a white leather suit, a metallic staff in hand and ready to attack at any time while being surrounded by a bunch of DEO agents with their weapons up.

"Uh, something tells me we're not in the roaring twenties anymore." said the man in the suit.

"Atom?! White Canary! Heatwave!" Supergirl then exclaimed in surprise. "Guys, it's okay, put your weapons down." Kara added, waving about at the rest of the DEO agents.

"What's going on here?" J'onn then asked stomping in right next to Kara.

"We could ask you the same thing Skirt?" the man Maggie assumed to be Heatwave asked.

"I don't know, you guys just showed up." Kara replied with a shrug.

"I'm guessing we're on the wrong earth." Sara then said, pointing the obvious.

"Sir, we received a message from someone called the Oracle about a surge of energy and presence of Tachyons at L-Corp's astronomy facility." one of the DEO techs then said as he approached the scene.

"Maggie and I can check it out." Kara immediately said volunteering her services. "Alex, you rest. Maybe take these guys to your training playground or something."

"I'm guessing they're your friends from the other earth?" Alex then asked.

"Yeah." Kara replied with a nod.

Maggie and Supergirl wasted no time in getting to the astronomy facility, with Maggie taking one of the DEO's vehicles alongside Agent Vasquez who volunteered to join them. They were soon followed by Winn and James in his Guardian suit.

When Maggie and the DEO agent managed to finally convince the security team to get inside they found Kara already inside tending to a group of people before she turned around and acknowledged their presence. She stood up, getting ready to leave, something about getting a report from the DEO that the same kind of disturbance was noted at L-Corp and that she needed to go.

"You're gonna be okay, Barry." Kara said, turning back to the trio they found at the facility before taking off.

Maggie followed Kara's vision and saw a man in a scarlet suit trying hard to get up, he looked hurt. Next to him was a woman trying to catch her breath, putting on bracelets on her wrist that stopped whatever chilly smoke was coming from her hands, and a man with long hair, waving uncertainly at both Maggie, Winn, and Agent Vasquez, James sticking around and hanging out outside trying to avoid having to explain what the Guardian was doing there.

At least an NCPD officer and 'FBI' agents checking on things at the facility wasn't that hard to believe especially when they explained that they were just following a lead from the recent investigations at the robbery from L-Corp.

"Oh my God, Barry." Winn said, rushing to help him up. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's kinda hard to explain, I'm guessing you're a friend of Supergirl's?" the long haired guy asked.

"We all are." Maggie then replied. "I think we should go. Some of your friends also showed up at the DEO base."

"Some of our friends?" the woman asked.

And Maggie simply shrugged.

"I was kinda hoping you guys would be the one providing the explanation here." Maggie replied with all honesty.

Because what on multiple-earths was actually going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… Guess what that MARK II is (it won't be coming up again for a while but it will at some point :3)?
> 
> Also, Lucy will most def make a comeback at some point but it's more of a cameo… I have plans… :3 I may have cut a scene at the end to place in the next chapter instead because this chapter is already too long and multiverse explanations will pop up in that scene, so yeah :P
> 
> Anyways, more fun the next chapter (and I'll try to update soon as I can, I promise! Give me like a week). I'm also planning to incorporate a few more nods and easter eggs from the comics so I'll add them at the end notes.
> 
> UPNEXT: A whole lot of confused flirting (with everyone, really) and jealousy thanks to a certain someone (*cough*Sara*cough*), awkward rooftop talks, Ollie and Kate become drinking buddies (?) to process everything that is going on, and oh, some training fun and bonding time
> 
> PS: Don't worry guys, Kara will get better at getting the girl… Like I said, I have plans ;P


	17. Ripples

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Busy chapter ahead featuring nods towards some major Cadmus stuff (that will be focused on a few coming chapters) and a whole lot of shenanigans…?
> 
> I really should consider breaking these chapters up some more…
> 
> Thanks for the continuous support! Your comments, reviews, and suggestions are always appreciated!

To say the least, this was not how Kara had planned her Sunday night to go.

The assembly of heroes and crime fighters were all gathered in the training room that Kate and Alex had been using for the most part trying to get their head around how on earth – or rather, how on multiple earths – were they all stuck in Earth-38 right now. Introductions and a strange conversation on how Batman was Batman and that his team of vigilante existed in both Earths because _he's Batman_ out of the way, everyone didn't waste their time in explaining what they have been doing since the last time they were all gathered together.

Kara basically explained where they were and what they do, plus the current threat they were facing, Cadmus, before giving way from all of the teams to give an update with what they've been up to. They all looked tired, all wanting to just figure out what's going on and wanting to get straight into business.

Sara was the first to give an update for Team Legends, explaining that they were Time Masters and what they were doing in Earth-1 1920s. Barry grumbled when Sara pointed out that Damien Darhk, the man who killed her sister, was currently working with a speedster and he was quick to provide with an explanation of how it was his nemesis, Eobard Thawne, the man who killed his mother.

Next was Team Flash, Caitlyn and Cisco provided an explanation of what they had to deal with and why Barry was all banged up thanks to a sudden encounter with Savitar just after they thought he was gone away for good.

"Who's Savitar?" Kara found herself asking and Barry looked at her gravely.

"Well, he-he's sort of, um, a, uh… he's a speed god." Barry then explained.

"Did you just say you're up against a _g_ _od_?" Winn then asked Barry and the Flash simply nodded in return.

"A _god_." Felicity then repeated in a bit of shock, mimicking everyone else's expression in the room.

Third to go was Team Arrow with Oliver giving a quick update with their own mess at Star City. Diggle had been arrested, apparently he was a fugitive after being framed by someone in the military, and one of Ollie's recruits betrayed them by working with the enemy, Prometheus. Oliver looked a little uneasy when he opened up about what happened with their last encounter, he seemed to be careful with his words explaining that the team was left with someone they could trust while Thea – who argued that Ollie would need someone to back him up – and Felicity joined him on a tracking mission to figure out the origins of Prometheus and find out his identity to stop him. They were leaving Star City when they encountered the man himself and before they knew it they were tossed into the office of one Lena Luthor.

Alex, J'onn, James, and Winn, needless to say, looked alarmed and Kara had to step in. "I told her the truth considering the whole topic about multiple earths were brought up. Besides, Lena knows a thing or two about Tachyons, so really, who's fooling anyone?"

"You told Lena you were in another earth for the last two weeks?" Alex asked, just to make things clear.

"Well,  _Supergirl_ , was." Kara clarified.

"W-wait, she was in our earth for three almost four days." Barry then said, fully recovered from his past shape. "And barely two days passed since."

"So, time difference between earths?" Cisco then asked, looking at Caitlyn.

"But that doesn't make sense, why isn't it constant? The time difference, I mean. If about three to four days is to two weeks, then why did we just have two days pass both here and our earth?" Caitlyn replied thoroughly confused. "It's like things are reaching a temporary equilibrium."

"Unless there's something going on with the whole time and space continuum." Ray then provided as a possible explanation.

"Well, technically, something _is_ up." Winn jumped in pulling up the file from Brainiac 5 to explain about the anomaly in the time and space continuum and about the Blight.

"Okay, so alien invasion number two then?" Cisco immediately said afterwards.

"I think I like this guy." Winn then commented, turning to Alex and James.

"Wait, just to be clear, we're staying?" Felicity asked and looked around and all of the Earth-1 heroes easily agreed.

"It's the least we could do after what Kara had done for us. Besides, we took Supergirl away from her earth for two weeks. It only seems right that we stay and help." Oliver then said.

Kate shook her head, "Still really weird to hear that from Oliver Jonas Queen." she then commented and Ray chuckled.

"Didn't know your middle name was Jonas." he admitted but everyone else ignored him.

"Okay, staying to help is well and good but we don't even know when the invasion is or how long we're gonna be here." Thea then pointed out.

"While we appreciate the help, we do have a few things your world doesn't have. We have the DEO." J'onn then explained. "And we have Supergirl, Superman, and his super friends." He went on, Winn turning around to grin at Kara, Alex, and James completely missing the point that J'onn had meant Superman's league of heroes and not them. "We have an army of superheroes bigger than what you have. Your earth needs you home."

"But I thought you guys said you had threats from that thing called Cadmus?" Sara interjected. "I think you all have your hands full at the moment. We know our teammates. We trust them to do the right thing. The rest of the Legends are back in Central City, I'm sure if we use the device Cisco gave Kara, we can contact them to check on things in both Star City and Central City."

Alex turned to look at Kara with a curious gaze but Kara chose to ignore her sister. Luckily, Alex wasn't given the time to press any questions as Barry kept the ball rolling.

"Yeah, and we have Wally as Kid Flash now, and Joe. I think between them and the Legends' help, things would be calm for a little while in our city. Earth-3 Flash is also still in the city in case of anything and Savitar disappeared just before we did, getting pulled by some strange-looking breach." Barry added.

"And we can get Layla to help be on the look-out for things with Prometheus, I guess. And um… well…. Yeah… the other _friend_ too." Felicity then said, turning to Oliver looking uncertain with something. "I mean, we have friends we can call for help too, like Roy. I think Arsenal can use a day or two out of retirement." she then provided as an example before biting her lip and doing her best not to look at Sara.

Which the White Canary didn't seem to miss just as Kara didn't either. 

"Besides, guys, if you haven't been listening to what I said earlier, I can't vibe us out of here." Cisco then said. "It's what I did as soon as we got here and I don't know if my powers were just short-circuiting or what, but something's keeping us here for now."

"I thought we could use Kara's device as an alternative, the one you built to help her crossover whenever she wanted?" Thea then asked.

Alex once again turned to look at Kara, quirking her eyebrow at her, demanding an explanation on why she has a dimension jumping device… that she may or may not have purposefully forgotten to tell Alex because she may or may not know that her sister would be incredibly upset by the thought of it…

Kara simply gave Alex a smile, feigning innocence as the rest of the group discussed what was going on.

She knew this conversation was being saved for later.

"We can, but if Cisco's tried and well the, Legionnaires?" Ray went on looking for support from Winn to check if he called the future team of superheroes by the right name. Winn nodded in response. "Yeah? The Legionnaires, said that they can't reach us from the future then I'm thinking time-travel or the speedforce can't help us at the moment either."

"Which means at least we can breathe easy from Savitar attacking our city and our friends." Caitlyn then noted.

"And which means that the rest of our team is stuck in present day Central City too." Sara then noted. "While our own villainous speedster is stuck wherever he is… hopefully not creating aberrations…"

"Great, then we'll definitely accept any help for our series of rogues." Thea jumped in.

J'onn groaned. "Which also means, I suppose, that we should add figuring out how to help the heroes of Earth-1 –" he started to say before Mick interrupted.

"Yeah, I'm no hero _John._ "

"Ah, that's _J'onn_ , as in, _J'onn J'onzz_ , the last son of Mars." Winn interjected.

"He's a _martian_?!" Cisco then exclaimed, his jaws dropping slightly and J'onn pretty much just grumbled.

Kara decided to take charge when he and Felicity started geeking out about it while Oliver was doing his best to wrap his head around adding more aliens to his list of contacts and allies, rubbing his temples to fight a coming headache. "Okay, guys, we need to focus here a bit."

"Yeah, and we still don't have an explanation as to why you all found yourselves here in the first place." Alex sighed, jumping in to point out the obvious that everyone seemed to be missing.

"Well, we were fighting Savitar, so I though… I don't know, speedforce plus Cisco could have vibed us to safety?" Barry provided as an explanation. "Besides, he was jumping back in forth between past, present, and future while he was beating me to a bloody pulp so…"

"That doesn't explain us." Mick then said with a grumble. "We were happily parked in one decade."

"Nor us." Thea seconded. "We don't have fights with speedsters on an ordinary night."

"The anomaly created rifts. In particular, Allen's fight could have triggered a series of events that were already lined up to happen." Kate then provided them with a sigh and J'onn simply groaned.

"Why do I have a feeling I won't like the explanation you have?" he asked.

"It's not really my explanation." Kate started before asking Winn for a favor, walking over him to lean in and whisper her request.

Winn looked back at her confused and left before Kate turned to face J'onn, her cowl removed by now. "It's more Lena's explanation really, her musing if you will. I'm just adopting it to our current situation"

"What did Ms. Luthor have to say about the multiverse?" J'onn asked sounding anxious of the answer to come.

Kara, on the other hand, was all ears. She remembered Lena geeking out about the incident with the portal-thing during thanksgiving and having an in depth discussion with Alex, Winn, and Eliza.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot about that!" Alex then exclaimed. "Lena was talking about the multiverse theory, the different types, time travel and all that during Thanksgiving."

"She was invited?" J'onn asked looking confused and searching from some clarity. "I'm guessing Kate too?"

One that Maggie happily provided. "Yeah, Mrs. Danvers, I mean Eliza, invited us all."

"You were invited too, you know, you were just too stubborn to attend." Alex interjected.

Just as Cisco asked, "Wait, we almost crashed your Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Yep, and thankfully you didn't because boy would that have been a long and awkward conversation after." Kara replied, she was trying to imagine how a talk with Lena to explain her Earth-1 friends asking her for her help against an alien invasion would have gone. She could always just say she was Supergirl, she's been thinking about doing that for a while now, telling her the truth.

But with pretty much everything else happening all at once, Kara wanted to take things one day at a time.

One ridiculous problem after another.

Besides, she was still trying to figure out how to go about her feelings for Lena then, and what to do and all, and introducing herself as Supergirl, cousin to her brother's arch-nemesis didn't exactly sound like a good opening line to that conversation with her feelings.

So for now, Kara made a mental note that when they finally have time to take a short breath away from all the crazy, she should probably figure out a way to tell Lena she's Supergirl.

Then of course there was this other part of her that didn't want to tell her because Lena's life is always in danger on an ordinary day, being Supergirl's – _Uh… girlfriend's jumping the gun, Kara, let's just stick with girl whose a friend that you're dating?_ _Yeah that. –_ would just put her life in even greater danger.

And Kara most definitely doesn't want that.

"Guess who got the in depth version of that discussion on the way to dropping her off?" she heard Kate then ask, a rhetorical question at this point. Kara could tell she was trying to make things light-hearted with her comment but her tone suggested otherwise. Winn soon came back to the room, a small piece of bullet proof glass from the engineering bay in hand and a mix of white and neon colored white board markers in hand. Sara rushed to help him get things set-up, the White Canary being the closest one to the door from their little circle, and Winn noticeably fumbled with the markers as soon as she went up close to him.

Kara tried her best to hold back a chuckle, Alex seemed to be doing the same thing. Sara threw Winn a wink as they parted ways and James had to pat him on the back as he nearly stumbled on his own foot on his way back to his former spot.

Kate walked towards the glass that was now propped up on some of the equipment they have in the room and drew a weird looking web of sorts in the middle. It started from a single dot in the middle that she circled with a green neon marker. Then the web branched off at multiple points starting from the one in the middle. "Lena talked about a few versions that could be used as a model for the multiverse theory." she started to say. "She thinks, and I sort of agree with her, that the best model is a combination of all the models that exist. That certain events lead to different consequences. That's why we have this web here, with Earth-Prime, shall we call it, in the middle."

The last period on a vertical line that went straight from the dot in the middle was circled with a pink neon marker. A good thirty-eight branches away from the big point at the end – Kara couldn't help herself but silently count it along with Kate who seemed to be checking the points – was a dot she circled with a blue neon marker. Kate then used the pink neon marker again and drew three types of dashed lines that kept branching off from the pink circled point and created a tinier dot at the end of each. She then added a few tick marks on the white line that the dot was on that connected to the colored dash lines.

"I get it. The different earths branch off from Earth-Prime. The smaller white dots and tick marks are certain events that happen that could lead to different outcomes, hence a possible new earth branching off that's existing at the same time with the rest of the infinite earths. We have almost shared histories so Earth-38 isn't that far off from our Earth-1, right?" Ray then said jumping into Kate's simple explanation and Kate nodded. "But, one of the main models say that we're actually occupying one space just different dimensions, so is it safe to assume that you're making that assumption as well?"

"Yes, well again, not me. Lena just essentially explained the whole thing, I'm just repeating her words." Kate then replied.

"Right, which could help explain the different frequencies of the different earths and to that extent the different frequencies people and things form different earths vibrate in." Caitlyn then added. "Because we're all occupying the same space but in different planes of existence."

"So what's with the different colors then?" James asked.

"Green is Earth-Prime, just to mark the earth we all branched off from. Pink is Earth-1 and blue is Earth-38, our earth from Kara's friends' explanation." Kate replied. "Now here's the thing that Lena talked in great detail about in the car ride and I believe she partially discussed with Winn and Alex. Believing that we occupy the same space, she thinks that a great disturbance in one earth – something that could change or alter reality or shake it's very foundations, maybe create a pocket universe that could become permanent or crumble on its own or something like that – could potentially affect different earths, particularly the ones closest to it in terms of its histories or paths of branching from Earth-Prime."

Kara nodded along as she listened, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she couldn't help but be proud of Lena and how she had easily hypothesized all of this from the simple incident in Kara's apartment.

She looked up just in time to catch Winn's additional remark, as well as the curious look that Sara gave her, a look she chose to ignore as she focused on what Winn was saying.

"Yeah, I remember that. And I think that makes total sense! On that note, Lena's really brilliant, huh?" he commented with a grin as he exchanged looks with Kara.

Kara cast her eyes away from Winn and simply smiled proudly as Winn chuckled with admiration before building on what Kate said with his own explanation. "The anomaly that Brainiac 5 and the Legionnaires detected could have been from someone time travelling or adversely affecting the time stream, creating multiple branches that kept re-writing the history of that earth, forming and then erasing something into existence and potentially tearing up the fabrics of reality."

"Like the Legionnaires with the special device that allowed them to travel through time. If they messed something up, like an important event, the effects could reverberate throughout the thin fabric of time and space." Alex added.

Kate nodded again and somehow Kara could see where this was going, the smile on her face disappearing completely. She turned to look at Barry who looked like he was getting more and more guilt-stricken by the moment.

"Or if we failed to fix a time aberration, for example, and it changes the course of our earth's history for good." Ray then found himself saying, turning to look at his captain whose eyes were squarely on Barry.

"Or create another timeline entirely and live in it for a while until it starts to set..." Felicity then found herself saying as Oliver sighed deeply right next to her. The two starting to put two and two together on why they were in Earth-38 in the first place.

Kate nodded and Kara suddenly realized that her eyes were on Barry as well. "When I went back to finish my bachelor's I met this kid in Sun City during a lecture I attended. Smart, born from Iowa, a certain Bartholomew Henry Allen." Kate then said.

"Wait, so I _do_ exist in this world?" Barry then asked and Kara could only guess where the conversation was going.

"Yeah. You're just not from Central City. But as I was hearing your story, I remembered him telling me his mom died and his dad was wrongfully imprisoned, just like you. He's brilliant, really good in chemistry and I definitely learned a thing or two from him too, what with our shared interest in forensic science and criminology." she went on as she finished her diagram. "See, Barry, you're a speedster but _our_ Barry isn't, at least not yet if he ever becomes one. That's the main difference. But speedster or not, he was talking about this childhood idea of building a cosmic treadmill that he could use to run as fast as he could, faster than the speed of light even, just something that could help him break through the time barrier and travel to the past to save his mom and his dad. He never pursued it, but I can only imagine what someone as fast as you would be tempted to do with the power you have. We all lost people we love Barry, if I had your powers I would be tempted too. But please, just tell me you didn't do something stupid like that, that it could be an easy fix."

Barry sighed and shook his head. "I can't." mustering all of his strength to look Kate straight back in the eye.

J'onn then spoke. "You changed the course of your earth's history just because…" he started to say before he took a deep breath and calm himself down, his tone sounding a bit gargled as it sounded more like his Martian voice had hues of disappointed and in disbelief. J'onn shook his head "You took on a mantle, a cowl. You answered to a higher calling, and instead of working through your issues when you were in your lowest point, you did a selfish thing."

"People make mistakes." Oliver then said jumping in, coming to Barry's defense.

"Supergirl messed up too, I mean the whole red kryptonite incident was one, and true, we all do. But Supergirl, heck Superman, they're just about as fast as Barry is, but they never tried flying or running around to turn back time and change something. Superman and Supergirl both lost their parents, their whole planet and civilization. J'onn lost his entire species. But they took the pain and loss to move forward, not backwards Barry." James voiced out and argued.

Silence fell on them as James words sank in. "The thing is, we all experienced loss and sacrifice. We experienced tragedies and we carry the scars they left behind with us to push us towards a future. Now that future is threatened, by a lot of things true, but threatened by one selfish act. We can't change or fix it per se, but we can still do something to _save_ it." Kate started to say, setting aside the markers before walking towards where Alex and Maggie stood.

"When we were in the car, Lena said that the portals could be just that, portals from someone travelling from one earth to another." Kate went on, changing the topic. The look on Barry's face said it all, the remorse and guilt of what he felt but he nodded nonetheless and said nothing to justify his actions.

He made a mistake, he accepts that.

Now Kara could see he would very much want to move forward.

"Either that or rifts started forming because something unnatural messed with the time and space continuum, or so she hypothesized." Kate went on.

"And you traveled back in time to save your mom, lived there for three months until changes started to become more permanent when you created Flashpoint, and changed a few things when you reset the timeline, that messed the time stream up big time. It wasn't just one tiny thing. It was a big event that had affected everyone's lives on our earth." Cisco expanding on what Kate said while turning to Barry.

"More than that, there still could be an earth where Barry didn't make that selfish decision, the old Earth-1, which I'm guessing you should give a different number to. When he reset this Flashpoint thing you mentioned, the pocket universe could have crumbled but Barry's decision might have given birth to a different earth with the changed history, your current Earth-1." Kate then said, mimicking Oliver's earlier action of rubbing her temples. It would seem she was having a headache with all of this too.

"You're really making it hard to forgive you, Red." Mick added.

Barry sighed. "Look, I know the invasion we faced with the Dominators was because of me. I took full responsibility of that. I did something that directly affected our earth, but this is Earth-38… This is on a massive scale of things." Barry started to argue back. "What if it's not just actually me? Maybe something else contributed to it too?"

"Hang on a second, _you_ caused the problem that _you_ dragged my sister away for that lasted two whole weeks in our earth?" Alex asked and Kara could tell by her tone that she was not a big fan of Barry at the moment. "The alien invasion _you_ had to face was a consequence of _your_ time travel mess up?"

Alex was about to walk towards Barry – the look on her face told Kara that she was indeed very much upset and Barry was most likely going to get it from her – and cross their little circle only to stop when she felt her gun being pulled out by Kate. Alex turned around in time to see Kate shoot at the bullet proof glass, the bullet hitting the pink circled dot dead in the center. Kara heard Sara whistle just as her eyes saw what Kate had wanted to point out.

The bullet was trapped in the material, cracks running along its immediate surrounding. Kate shot the same point again, once and then twice, the bullets barely millimeters of each other and lying on the same lines as the pink colored branches.

With plenty of tinier cracks branching off of the bigger more obvious ones, the whole thing looking similar to the web of multiple earths drawn on the glass, one thin scratch running through the blue-circled dot that represented Earth-38.

"See the bullet? Good. Because you're the bullet Barry, the cause of the anomaly." Kate then said. "Granted that's a one-dimensional representation, if we actually consider that we occupy the same space like Ray said earlier, well, the magnitude of the ripple effects of what you did would be greater. I'd assume a lot of earths would experience these effects. There could be a delay, who knows? Maybe that's why we're only feeling it now."

"Following that logic, it means that other earths could be experiencing similar effects." Winn then said, a realization sinking in. "And that explains why the Legionnaires can't contact us properly or can't travel back to help us now. We're still experiencing disturbances because of the ripples."

"Right, and that explains why we're stuck here. We need to address the effects and sort of set things right. Ensure that the futures in jeopardy, at least in the place that we're in, are averted." Ray added following Winn's logic. "We need to stabilize the point we're in before we can cross back, essentially."

"But why just us?" Sara then asked.

"Could be we were the closest to the rifts that formed, could be because we were the most exposed to Tachyons and or the speedforce." Caitlyn then provided as an explanation.

Barry soon found himself slinking back on the floor. "I'm really sorry guys, I know I keep saying that but still… I…"

Kara never let him finish that sentence, however, instantly crossing the circle and reaching out her hands to Barry's and pulling him up. "How about we put the past behind us and move forward, one day at a time?" she then said.

She remembered the whole mess she made under the influence of red kryptonite, the destruction she left in her wake. It may not have been as multiverse shattering as the consequences of Barry's actions but Kara understood she was capable of doing something just like that.

"Supergirl's right, Flash." Kate added, conceding to Kara's point as she handed Alex's gun back. She didn't look entirely happy about the situation but there really wasn't' anything else that could be done. "And being a veteran crime fighter in the room, I've come to learn that it's not the number of times you mess up or fail, it's the number of times you get up and face things head on."

"And I suppose this entire mess did bring you all here. While we have the whole thing with the Blight to deal with, we do most certainly need help with our current Cadmus threat" Alex noted, starting to sound a whole lot calmer. "I suppose everything has a silver-lining."

"Yeah, you mentioned something about a Kryptonite Man?" Thea asked sounding confused. "Is he from, um, Supergirl's planet?"

"No, he's human. Experimented on by Cadmus and given kryptonite as a power source." Maggie replied. "In other words, he has glowing green hands that he could use to literally crush Kara's heart in her chest if he wanted to, or so Alex here always painfully paints."

"I'm not going to let that monster _kill_ my sister." Alex retorted.

"Okay, we definitely missed something. Supergirl's indestructible, isn't she?" Sara then asked.

"While Supergirl may be close to a god in your earth, we, unfortunately, have something that could kill her in ours." J'onn commented.

"Kill her and affect her in _many_ different ways. Some rather amusing." Kate then commented and Kara blushed hard.

Somehow she could imagine what Kate had been pertaining too.

"Okay, silver-lining then. We beat the K-Man, stop an invasion, figure out how to get home, and somehow pray that we don't cause the collapse of the multiverse." Cisco summed up and everyone else from Earth-1 nodded along to show their agreement.

"Let's just be thankful we're not having a crisis on our infinite earths at the same time, and we're not collapsing into just one. I have a feeling we all won't make it if it does." J'onn said, concluding the discussion on the matter as he turned to leave.

"I guess meeting's adjourned then?" Thea asked as J'onn left asking Winn to come with him to discuss about allocating space for the other teams to operate.

Kara nodded just as Felicity stepped forward to raise an important question. "Not to be a pain, but, since we are here indefinitely and I think going out in public and staying in hotels might catch people's attention including our doppelgangers in this earth and cause unnecessary problems, top that with the fact that we don't actually have any money in this earth, where are we _all_ going to stay?"

"Uh…" Kara started to stammer, turning for Alex for help. Alex shrugged unsure herself.

"We have cells and spare containment units we can turn into a room. Training rooms too. But I don't think it would be that warm and welcoming. I mean the only reason why Mon-El is staying here is because he can't afford rent just yet and J'onn still wants to keep an eye on him until he's a functioning member of _human_ society."

"I'm guessing Mon-El is another alien?" Cisco asked. "His name sounds all alien-y."

"He's a Daxamite." James replied with a nod.

"I have guest rooms at my place. I'm sure the ladies can share one and the gents another if they wouldn't mind. My couch is free to use as well. Oliver most definitely can't be seen because everyone think ours is dead so the secret passages I have set up will come in handy." Kate offered. "Just don't steal anything I'd hunt you down for." she added turning to Mick who shrugged.

"He'll be on his best behavior." Sara replied in his defense.

"Hang on, back up there. Secret passages?" Thea asked impressed.

"The residence building does have my name on it." Kate replied. "Plus it has good security systems set in place."

"You're finally activating them?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

Kate shrugged. "We need to." was her simple reply.

"I guess that's settled then." Kara said nodding along before turning to greet her friends, the stress and worries of their previous topic already drifting away. "Welcome to Earth-38!" she beamed and everyone smiled warmly back at the Girl of Steel.

Even Mick.

* * *

It was definitely not the Sunday Kate was expecting to have. With a bit of planning, everyone was soon settled at her place, Winn and James providing some clothes the guys can borrow while Kate provided some of hers for the girls.

The heroes changed to civilian outfits before they planned their move, using one of the DEO's vans for transport. J'onn made sure that their suits and weapons were kept in a secure place. This allowed Kate to bring up her guests to the penthouse using a secret passage that let them out of the hallways to the bedrooms of her place. It kept unwanted people from her little secret base – mostly her concern was Mick who might steal some of her tech – and provided easy access to the tired heroes.

Mick claimed the couch in the living room, enjoying the access to the impressive widescreen TV and the walking distance to the kitchen for food and the bar for Kate's wide selection of alcohol.

Kate shrugged when Oliver gave her a questioning glance about it. "What, never heard of a billionaire vigilante trying to throw off any suspicions?"

"I'm sensing a pattern here, with alcoholic billionaires who are secretly vigilantes for sure." Felicity had commented.

"At least you're not a philanderer." Thea added, giving Oliver a nudge as she shook her head at her older brother.

"I never said I'm not." Kate replied with a wink that seemed to have caught Sara's attention.

It didn't take long and the ladies found themselves dozing off in their own room while the guys did the same in theirs. The only ones who stayed up late were the 'Team Leaders', or so Kate had dubbed them - which included Barry, Oliver, and Sara - when she contacted Oracle and Batman for an update on their recent developments. Those three were the only ones allowed into her little cave.

Needless to say, a certain Dark Knight was not at all pleased, instantly pulling up files on the Earth-1 heroes' counterparts in Earth-38, marking them for surveillance, especially Mick who Batman was not quite pleased with when he saw the same incriminating rap sheet that his doppelganger had incurred in Earth-38.

He wasn't also pleased to know that Sara was an assassin when she came clean about it upon introducing herself, or for that matter that Oliver had a bit of a 'killing spree', or so Batman put it, against the criminals of their earth's Star City.

But when Sara brought up that she and Oliver were both trained by the League of Assassins at some point Batman seemed to have just shut up. "I'm guessing Ra's was also the big man in charge?" he asked Oliver before asking him if he tried to marry him to one of his daughters, convince him to be his heir, or tried to drug him and work alongside said daughter to produce a grandson.

"I mean, I got married at Nanda Parbat but I think your Ra's went a bit more extra with the planning." Oliver commented.

And the strangest thing happened after that.

Batman chuckled.

But that had been a mere fleeting moment as they all drew up a plan to focus on fighting the Blight, Batman giving them League updates on what they've been doing to monitor the arrival of their enemy.

It was around noon when Kate found herself out of her bedroom in her usual lazy morning get up – white button down and boy shorts – that seemed to have caught Ray's attention, and Mick for that matter, before Kate shook her head. "Boys," she muttered with an eye roll before settling down on her couch in the living room next to Oliver.

Everyone seemed to have just gotten up, what with the busy night they just had. Alex had dropped in earlier to bring them some breakfast of donuts to check on them with only Caitlyn to greet her, the two were currently in a deep conversation about tweaking with her own meta-human bracelet, the one that's keeping her powers in control. With bioengineering Alex's own specialty, Kate had no doubt she would be able to help her out.

In the meantime, Mick was stuffing his face full of donuts while rummaging Kate's bar for a bottle of whiskey. Thea and Felicity on the other hand were in the kitchen watching as Ray whip up a spectacular brunch for them. Thea had her head down on the kitchen counter, still sleepy, while Felicity complemented Ray's kitchen skills.

Kara came in a few minutes later, Thea getting the door, just as she and Oliver got in a casual conversation over the tea in her decanter, Ollie's use of water in place of vodka and cranberry or grape juice instead of wine, and how acting drunk had been their default state for a while in the start of their vigilante career. The reporter had a few boxes of pizza and a plastic bag of take-out boxes filled with potstickers claiming she wasn't sure if anyone had already eaten.

"Anyways, I only have about an hour for lunch, and I'm supposed to head into the mall to write a puff piece on the must have Christmas gifts for this year, interview some holiday shoppers and all. One my punishments for leaving work for two weeks." Kara announced to the group. "And that definitely smells good." she added as she turned to face Ray.

"Thanks." he replied before being cut off with his explanation about cooking and recipes with a tired looking Cisco who had to drag Barry out of his makeshift bed on the floor – the guys shared the guest room with two twin beds. Barry opted to sleep on the floor like Oliver in his own sleeping bag of sorts that he borrowed from Kate, the guys obstinately stubborn to share the bed unlike the girls.

"I'm hungry. You're hungry. We've all been through this constant cycle of blaming yourself Barry, and quite frankly I'm tired of the manpain." Cisco grumbled.

"But it's still my fault." Barry grumbled as a response still looking a bit down.

"Allen, I swear, if you don't stop complaining, I don't care how fast you are but I am going to wipe the floor with your ass." Kate then replied. "Learn from the past and move on."

"Or you know, shoot him with an arrow. Always a valuable teaching moment, make it memorable." Oliver commented before turning to face Barry. "She's right though Barry. I made my own worst enemy with Slade, I lost people I cared about because of that but we can't weigh ourselves down forever with those mistakes. We've done some good and we've done some bad, how about we just make the good outweigh the bad?"

"Slade as in Slade Wilson? Deathstroke, the Terminator?" Kate clarified in a whisper and Oliver looked at her intrigued, the two having their own private conversation.

"So he exists here too?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, just dealt with him a few months ago." Kate then honestly replied. "How do you know him?"

"Well…" Oliver started to say just before giving her the gist of it.

In the meantime, Kara 'literal ray of sunshine' Danvers jumped in after Oliver's comment to Barry, trying to cheer up Barry with her own infectious optimism and the group settled down to eat.

Kate allowed Felicity in her 'office' to work while she ate on a few things as Kara had inspired her to be productive too. She figured that with the help of yet another brilliant hacker, they might make great progress with some of the encrypted Cadmus files she had – something she'll let Felicity in on later – and be better set up to deal with Kryptonite Man, maybe track him down before he strikes again. "Just don't spill anything on, well, anything."

"Don't worry, I know computers, computers are my babies. Everything will be in tip top shape or even better." Felicity then commented.

"Just keep it to one side and don't touch the main computer." Kate then threw back as Felicity disappeared through the doors of her study. She settled next to Oliver as they resumed their conversation while the rest gathered around the dining table.

"By the way, where's Sara?" Kara then asked, noticing that the White Canary was missing from the group.

"Still sleeping." Kate replied with a shrug, Oliver throwing her a questioning glance.

A glance that was not met with an answer, just a smirk and a shrug.

Kate had one bite out of the pizza Kara brought when her doorbell rang. Everyone exchanged looks wondering who it could be. Alex explained that Maggie was out on a case while Winn was busy with something J'onn had him focus on working on. Kara was about to stand to get the door when Barry beat her two it. "I'll get it, besides, I'm the fastest man alive." he said with a chuckle, his mood lightening up again.

Barry zoomed towards the door and Kate tried her best to listen in to the exchanges by the door.

"Hi." Barry uncertainly greeted.

Kate couldn't hear the reply just Barry's side of the conversation. "Uh, Barry. My name is Barry…" Kate heard him respond. "Um, you're a friend of Kate Kane?"

"Who are you her new unkempt bumbling PA? Yes, I'm here to talk – " Kate finally heard Lena say as she marched inside, managing to push Barry out of the way of Kate's door. She sounded irritated by Barry's response.

Lena froze right in the middle of the living room as she regarded everyone that was there and she could only imagine what was going through her head.

Kara, looking a little bit panicked, stood clumsily up, her chair almost toppling over. Thea caught it in time without breaking a sweat, sharp reflexes and all.

Lena looked confused with what was going on. Realization had finally begun dawning on upon her just as Sara walked into the living room in perfect view of a rambling Kara who couldn't string any words together.

"What's gotten our baby doll's tongue?" Sara asked with a light chuckle. She stepped out of the hall in rather lose fitting clothes and messy hair. Kate would be lying if she said that the White Canary wasn't having any effect on her – bats may be blind but she wasn't – and the teasing tone accompanied with the light blush on all of the boys' cheeks, heck even Alex, was enough to know what Sara was trying to suggest.

Kate stopped herself from saying anything, however, when she noticed Lena's jaw tighten, cocking her head to the side as she appraised the blonde assassin from head to toe.

It didn't help that Sara had a flirtatious grin on her face, wanting to tease Supergirl who, as Kate had heard quite a few times since the night before, was all kinds of awesome in Earth-1. It dawned on Kate that they didn't exactly get to see Kara be anything but an adorable ball of sunshine or an awe-inspiring goddess.

They haven't exactly witnessed Kara Danvers, ace reporter bumbling mess of a lovelorn girl.

Something that Kate understood was amusing to Sara but somehow the lines on Lena's face told her that it didn't sit quite well with the CEO.

Which of course caused Kara to turn redder than she already was, trying to diffuse the situation all while struggling with what to say without having to tell her that a) she was Supergirl – although Lena already knew, but Kara didn't – b) that everyone else was from another earth, c) that she's sort of dating Lena Luthor and quite possibly the only people in the room who knew were Alex and herself, and d) that Sara Lance was a highly trained assassin and was quite frankly a living ninja and Lena looked like she was about to wage war against her.

Because of course Lena Luthor would give an assassin a sharp look thanks to one rather flirtatious comment regarding Kara and perhaps even pick a fight with her.

 _Of course_.

Oliver noticed the sudden tense air, and turned to look at Kate, his eyes silently asking if Lena would actually dare fight Sara. Lena _did_ shoot Thea with her stun gun of sort invention – that, on one note, she should really ask her about because it could come handy in the future – causing her to tumble out into her balcony from her office as soon as they were thrown out of the breach.

Alex looked alert, assessing the danger or if she should try to leap into action next to Kara in case something. Kate could tell that she was also trying to come up with a reason to the little gathering they have especially since Kara was still a rambling mess.

Barry looked over to Oliver, uncertain of what to do next. Kara did explain to them, especially after Cisco, Felicity, Ray, and Caitlyn all started talking about Lena's brilliant theories about what could have happened that Kate had relayed the night before, that she hasn't told Lena her secret and technically they weren't exactly working together. They were all quite impressed, especially since the explanation preceded the actual event that she had hypothesized might be happening. But because of what Kara said, Barry thought that the CEO didn't know anything and wasn't sure what he could do to help.

Ray regarded Lena with a curious glance while Cisco and Caitlyn exchanged looks.

Mick simply looked amused.

But Sara remained unfazed.

In fact, Kate could tell by the chuckle that escaped her throat that Sara was quite entertained by Lena's reaction.

"I meant that as an endearing and friendly term." Sara then said with a smile, raising her hands in surrender to try to appease Lena. "Although I do have to ask, Danvers, who's you're friend? She's kinda hot."

Something about the comment had a rather interesting effect on Kara Danvers in return. She slipped in between Sara and Lena, as if she was shielding Lena away from Sara Lance for some sort of reason. Kara was still furiously beet red but she cleared her throat and shot Sara a look before she introduced her to everyone. "This is _my…_ Lena, Lena Luthor." Kara said rather protectively.

Kate and Alex both chuckled, but for different reasons. Lena's cheeks turned pink at Kara's words, something that Kate was quite enjoying since she's never seen anyone have that effect on her, while Alex couldn't help but notice that Kara's struggling for the right word to call Lena made it sound like Lena was hers.

Sara just looked even the more amused while Barry looked at Kara in slight confusion. "Lena, these are, um…" Kara then said, ignoring everyone else in the room and turning to Lena, her resolve quickly fading as her eyes met Lena's.

Again, struggling for words.

 _And of course Kara wouldn't need to get all flustered and tongue-tied if Lena just came clean about knowing everything or if Kara brought her into the loop. Both really._ Kate thought to herself as she sighed. She's realized, despite not wanting to admit it earlier, that opening up to Alex and working with her openly made things easier. Better really, at least in working together to fight against Cadmus. It dissipated some tension and all.

Not that she isn't keeping any secrets anymore, but Kate was hoping things would be out in the open soon.

She could feel it in her gut, something was coming.

But for now, the light smile forming on Lena's lips seemed to suggest that her friend might be enjoying this a little.

Seeing Kara all flustered and fumbling for words at least.

"They're, uh, family friends visiting the city. We have some sort of emergency, something involving why Kara's been gone the last two weeks and helping them. The two of us didn't have much room to welcome them into our place so we asked Kate if she could do us a favor." Alex explained, coming into Kara's aid.

"And hotels were out of the question because?" Lena asked, raising a good point.

To which Kate took her cue. She cleared her throat and waived at Oliver, as if making a show at who was sitting next to her. All that was needed was a silent ' _Tada, look who's alive'_.

Lena gasped as soon as she turned and saw who it was. "Ollie… but… but you were…" she stuttered before once again regaining composure.

The Queens have known the Luthors for ages, which meant that _their_ Oliver Queen knew Lex and Lena quite well.

And whether or not Lena had realized that the people in her home right now were all from another earth, she would be shocked to see Oliver Queen alive and well.

Oliver looked curiously at Lena. "I'm?" he asked, lost by the sudden look in the CEO's eyes.

Lena stepped forward and touched Oliver lightly on his cheeks and arms. "You're alive." she breathed out. "I thought… Hackett said your boat capsized or something, it's been three years, Ollie. You've been presumed dead for three years."

"W-wait, you know each other?" Kara then asked. Of course she didn't mean that quite literally.

"Um… Lex's sister, right?" Oliver then asked.

"Yeah." Lena replied before another piece seemed to click in the back of Lena's mind and she stepped away.

In that instant the CEO knew he was the man in the green hood.

"Long story." Oliver then replied.

"I bet." Lena then commented before turning to Kara and addressing her softly. "Yes, Kara, Ollie and his parents used to come around a lot when I was little. I remember him running around the manor with his toy bow and arrows, boasting to Lex that he had archery lessons from his idol. At least that was before his parents died in the accident during one of their trips."

Oliver nodded sadly as he heard the fate of his parents having been unchanged in this earth while Thea seemed to be interested in what Lena was saying. "How about his sister?" she asked.

Lena looked at Thea confused. "Ollie doesn't have a sister." she said plainly and Kate saw a disheartened look in Thea's eyes that she quickly brushed away.

"I'm sorry, looks like I interrupted something. I only wanted to talk to Kate. About that _thing_." Lena continued to say.

"Right." Kate then replied and Alex shot her a curious look. "It's business. Inauguration of the new building and offices for the family company." she lied, although she still does need Lena's opinions on the matter.

Lena was better at planning events, Kate really couldn't care any less. She just wanted to enjoy said events.

"I'm sorry too, seems like we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Sara." Sara then said, jumping in and walking towards to reach her hand out to Lena. The CEO accepted and shook her hand, her jaws setting tightly as she gave Sara a warning glance.

Sara took it well, it would seem, with a chuckle and quick glance at Kara.

"Right and this is Caitlyn and Cisco." Kara then said, taking over and introducing Lena to everyone. "And you know Barry. This is Thea, and this is…"

"Dr. Palmer, I didn't know you knew the Danvers." Lena said, cutting Kara's introductions.

"Hmm… um, yeah, family friend. Pleasure to meet you Ms. Luthor." Ray replied, reaching out to shake Lena's hand before simply staring at her. "I'm sorry, you just… you look incredibly like my cousin's fiancée. She met her in boarding school when they were in the eighth grade and all, although I think I might have actually just missed their wedding, so I should probably say her wife. I've been sort of away." he rambled on with a charming smile on his face.

"Well that's interesting to know, although, Dr. Palmer, we have met before. I visited Ivy town a few months ago to make a donation for their science wing. My graduate school adviser had just transferred into Ivy University as the new dean. Your new dean in fact."

"Oh, um, right." Ray then said nodding along and playing it as cool as he can. "Sorry, just slipped my mind, a lot happening and all."

"I think you're forgetting to introduce me, Skirt." Mick then said, cutting the conversation between Lena and Ray short.

"Did you just call her ' _Skirt_ '?" Lena asked, turning sharply to face Mick, an edge to her tone.

And now it would seem Lena wants to make an enemy out of a known arsonist too.

"Sorry, he's rough on the outside but all mushy on the inside despite his constant denials of it being true." Sara commented and Mick groaned.

Alex pretty much took over from that, urging everyone to finish up because they should get going soon. At some point, Felicity opened the door from the study, saw Lena and shut herself back, possibly remembering how Lena saw her last night with the hooded vigilantes.

Kara pretty much distracted Lena after that, the two making their way to the balcony to talk about lighter matters. It seemed that Lena didn't push for any questions that would make Kara uncomfortable and flustered, at least from what Kate could see.

"Aren't you coming?" Alex asked as everyone got ready to leave, the question directed to Kate while Oliver checked on Felicity who was still hiding.

"No, Felicity and Ollie wanted to talk about something, at the same time I still need to talk to Lena." Kate then replied.

"Oh, I thought she'd be busy for the rest of the day." Alex commented as she watched Kara and Lena make their way back.

Lena smiled at Alex. "I've cancelled my meetings this afternoon. What can I say, I go the extra mile for people I care about and Kate needs my help." she provided as a reply to Alex.

Alex simply nodded, watching both Lena and Kate carefully before she pretty much herded everyone out of the apartment, easily shoving Mick out of the stool he was sitting on near Kate's bar.

"So, tonight?" Kara asked excitedly as she turned to Lena and Lena couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Kara, tonight. I'll see you then." Lena said leaning in towards Kara who was looking a bit shy, and pressing her lips gently on her cheeks.

She clearly wanted to kiss Lena but felt a bit embarrassed of having Kate literally standing next to them. Kate chuckled, things still clearly new to the younger Danvers.

She rolled her eyes and turned around, "Oh for the love of God, just kiss her you fool." Kate commented as she made her way to her study.

Kate found herself wishing she had x-ray vision like her Kryptonian ally, just to see if she did in fact give Lena a quick kiss. She couldn't help it, their feelings for each other was so clear and transparent even when they tried to keep it under wraps, protect the fragile new thing they've stumbled upon between them from the world.

She chastised herself for wanting to spy on them as she made her way into her secret base. Oliver and Felicity turning away from the computer screens to greet her.

It didn't take long for Lena to follow her inside, warily regarding the other two in the space they were in.

"You can trust them." Kate said before Oliver jumped in.

"I couldn't help but notice the subtle exchange of glances you two had and remembered the fact that you asked us if we were sent by your mother or Westfield last night when we fell out of the breach. It didn't take long to connect the dots with Cadmus and Lex. And clearly a few secrets are being kept from each other that I assume aren't actually even secrets anymore?"

"So we're really just cutting to the chase here?" Felicity asked sounding a little nervous. "Felicity Smoak by the way. Lena Luthor, right?"

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Smoak." Lena replied. "So you were the man in the Robin Hood get up? I'm assuming you're not our Ollie." She stated more than asked, choosing to ignore Oliver's question.

Oliver nodded just before he sighed. "I don't know what operation you two are running, but I know for a fact that hiding secrets from your teammates doesn't really work well."

"Boy, can you say that again." Felicity commented as an aside.

Oliver turned slightly and gave Felicity a look before addressing Kate. "This isn't right, letting a civilian get in the middle of things."

"First of all, whether she wants to or not, Lena _is_ in the middle of this. Second of all, let? What part of this screams ' _let_ '? Lena's stubborn, she'll do it anyways no matter how many times I try to argue with her, it's better to just work with her and provide my help."

"Also, I'm right here." Lena commented, jumping in. "But good to know you think I'm stubborn. Stepping away from that, however, what on earth is happening here Kate? I'm guessing everyone else in that room except Kara and Alex are from another earth? Please tell me _that_ Sara girl is too."

"Um, there really isn't anything to worry about Sara, you know." Oliver then said rather awkwardly.

"What did I miss?" Felicity asked.

Oliver fidgeted a bit. "I, uh, think Lena is Kara's girlfriend."

"I… um…" Lena started to say in response, blushing yet again under the gaze of a very shocked looking Felicity.

"They just had their first date, so how about we all let them be." Kate then said, half teasing and Oliver nodded.

"O-oh… you're jealous of Sara Lance!" Felicity realized.

"I wouldn't say jealous per se..." Lena started to reason.

"She won't disrupt whatever's going on between you two." Oliver then reaffirmed, coming to Sara's defense. "She's not that type of person, you know, to cut in between two people who have something special."

"Ah, right, I mean, that's all behind us anyways. I mean, sure, she had a thing with you when you were with her sister but I mean, that was mostly you too. Point is, Sara's not going to get in between your budding relationship. The past is past, not even this earth's past. Yep, ages ago, definitely. We've been through apparent death, super-soldier armies, falling off of cliffs and resurrections. I heard all those things change people." Felicity awkwardly rambled on, Lena not sure if she should be comforted or worried.

"But, like Felicity said earlier, we're cutting to the chase." Oliver jumped in, turning his attention to both Kate and Lena. "How about we all drop the act and be honest with what's going on? I feel like we're all missing very important points here, and we are here to help."

Kate sighed and turned for Lena for support. The Green Arrow's and Overwatch's help could be beneficial in their current endeavors. Lena nodded, her face looking a little grave. Somehow Kate could already feel like whatever made her go seek out Kate in the middle of a Monday wasn't going to be some news that she'd like to hear.

"Okay. How about we start from the very beginning?"

* * *

Strange lunch time meetings aside, and quite possibly a jealous Lena Luthor, Kara was happy for how the day had been turning out.

She got incredibly busy upon returning to Catco, somehow Cat Grant had caught wind of the strange cloud that appeared inside the still closed to the public L-Corp astronomy facility and had very much wanted someone to go check it out. James managed to deescalate Cat's insistence that there was a story behind it, thankfully, and Kara managed to focus on her work for the next good hour.

There was a bit of an emergency regarding a bank robbery a few blocks away from Catco that she had to respond to but when she got there The Flash had already taken care of the problem. The two raced back to the DEO to check on the progress of things afterwards, Barry deciding to minimize his exposure to the media for now just as news teams came to the scene of the crime.

At the DEO, she saw Ray working with Caitlyn and Alex on something in the labs, Maggie keeping a watchful eye on Ray who seemed to be quite impressed by Alex's own genius and looking completely enamored by her too. Kara felt herself smiling just as Maggie tried to join the conversation and did her best to follow the science speak between the three, the detective seeming more relaxed than she had been for days. With the Earth-1 heroes in their earth, Alex had found herself busy with something else other than training and tracking down Kryptonite Man. Maggie was relieved by it, she could tell, and whether or not she had any clue on what the trio had been talking about, she could see the detective look adoringly at her sister as she explained how the device she was tinkering with was going to work.

Cisco, in the meantime, had made himself at home next to Winn's station, the two competing on who gets to unscramble Brainiac 5's second message from the future first. Cisco won, much to Winn's chagrin, and caught everyone's attention when he declared the little tidbit of information that Kara was trying to tell her friends about the Blight, as provided by Brainiac 5.

"We're up against an immortal race of aliens _without_ any known weaknesses?!"

"Is that what the message say for real?" Winn turned to ask him and Cisco nodded. Barry and Kara made their way to the two just as Cisco sat sank down in his chair absorbing all the information he got from the message.

"It does say that they have this device that allows them to go about the universe to spread death and decay. If we destroy that I think we can push them back." Cisco then said.

"The Blight survive by spreading their putrefaction process so that makes sense. Any idea how we could get to that?" Kara asked.

"Hmmm… let me see. There's still a part of the message that's unclear. If the Legionnaires beat the Blight in the thirtieth century, I'm guessing they're trying to tell us how we can do it ourselves."

"We'll let you know what we find." Winn then commented.

"Where's Felicity, I thought she might want to help you guys out here too?" Barry then asked.

"Oh, still at Kate's with Ollie. Something about focusing on investigations with Cadmus." Cisco commented.

"And the rest? Thea, Mick, and Sara?" Kara asked.

"Mick's asleep in the medbay, he nearly broke his hand punching Mon-El earlier. Sara and Thea, on the other hand, are giving our resident Daxamite hell in one of the training rooms." Winn replied as he typed away.

Barry asked Kara if they should join the two for a bit of training but Kara had to remind Barry about getting back to work.

Besides, she had a date with Lena right after that she wouldn't miss for the world.

Kara's always known just how difficult it was to live the double life, to balance work, being Supergirl, and wanting to be with someone, but somehow she felt like she could have that with her.

Ans she wasn't about to go on forgetting Cadmus' looming threat or the everyday tensions that arise from the existence of extraterrestrial life. She knows she still had secrets, she knew that if she really wanted something with the CEO then she should be honest about everything.

She wanted to share a life with her someday, and it surprises Kara by just how much she's been thinking about that lately. A part of her felt like it was prompted by Ray's earlier comment, her super-hearing having picked up what Ray said to Felicity back during their Earth-1 celebrations against successfully fending off the Dominators.

That she reminded him of her cousin.

And that Lena looked like her cousin's fiancée...

But tomorrow still felt so far away.

And Kara wasn't sure of what's going to happen tomorrow.

So she decided to just enjoy the moments she get with Lena for now.

There was a light knock on the open door of her office back at Catco just as she was about to wrap things up for the day. Kara looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see Lena Luthor leaning on her doorway all shy with her smile. She looked tired, Kara guessing she just wrapped up a long day, "I thought I had to drag you out of your office for tonight."

"I figured we could use a nice change of pace." Lena replied stepping into Kara's office just as Kara made her way round her desk. Lena looked behind her and pouted. "We have to do something about the lack of windows in your office. It just doesn't do you justice."

"So I guess my employees weren't lying after all when they said that Lena Luthor is in my building." they heard Cat say. She was standing just outside of Kara's office, arms crossed against her chest and giving Lena a stern look. "Ms. Luthor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm just here to get Kara, Cat. Come on, we've dropped the formalities a long time ago, I believe sometime during the many exposes you have on my family?" Lena replied and Kara couldn't tell if there was a carefully hidden edge to her tone or not.

Cat simply smiled back. "I hope you're not here trying to…" she started to say and somehow Kara couldn't help but feel that this was Cat's version of a shovel talk.

But Lena never let her finish whatever insinuations she might have on Lena's visit. "I'm here for Kara." she simply replied, her tone soft and light, conveying the message that only Cat simply picked up on. The simple sentence carrying its weight of significance and meaning that the two CEOs only understood.

"Good to hear this isn't about keeping L-Corps name in the light." Cat then replied. "I'm very fond of my former assistant, Lena, so if she walks in here one day being less spritely as she usually is, I don't think I would need to tell you what making an enemy out of me entails."

"I don't think that's entirely necessary." Lena replied. Satisfied, Cat nodded and urged them along telling them to enjoy their night. It was only when the two of them have stepped into the elevator that Kara realized everyone else had been staring.

Awkward tension at her office aside, Kara found herself happy. Truly happy.

Lena didn't seem to mind the threat that Cat had given her. "I've heard worse." she commented making Kara feel bad for Lena.

Again, unspoken or not, the weight of the name she bore followed them like a dark cloud. But Kara wouldn't let that ruin the night.

Or ruin any moment she could get to spend with Lena for that matter.

Lena asked if they should grab some take-out on their way to Kara's apartment but Kara had been adamant to say no. Lena made her dinner on their first date, she was going to return the favor tonight.

Of course Kara Danvers actually had no cooking experience other than flipping pancakes or making waffles. There was also the occasional heat-visioning of quick meals, pot roast, or turkeys. Since the latter wasn't an option, Kara decided to try to make this pasta recipe she looked up right after their first date.

She asked Lena to settle down and pick a movie they could watch for later but the CEO had been more interested in watching Kara cook and so, really, it's her fault that Kara got distracted and she ended up letting the water boil over the pot and send the lid flying to hit the exhaust. Lena had found it a little amusing as Kara scrambled to deal with the mess. One crisis averted, Kara soon found Lena's smiles and laughter rather intoxicating to watch and pay attention to instead of the sauce she was making.

So one not half bad attempt of making pasta that tasted only partially bad later, Kara decided that she couldn't let Lena eat something bad and offered to call for a delivery.

"Or I can make you something in your kitchen." Lena offered and Kara shook her head, still adamant about not having Lena be the one to prepare their meal.

They settled on a compromise. Lena made some hot chocolate and Kara made pancakes. Nothing better than having breakfast for dinner.

And it seemed to make Lena incredibly happy, so Kara considered it a win.

* * *

Of course Kara was the first to fall asleep – Lena could only imagine how tiring it was to be a superhero, physically, emotionally, mentally – while they were watching a movie, the two of comfortably snuggled up together in Kara's couch.

Apparently it's their thing.

Kara looked peacefully contented, her arms draped across her body pulling her close and Lena could almost let herself forget everything else going on around her.

Almost.

Because she knows she can't let herself forget. Not now. Not until this is all over.

Using a secured laptop that Kate had given her, Lena was able to do more of her digging in the comforts of her own home. It drew lesser attention to the places she went to and decreased any possible suspicious activity, at least in the eyes of her mom or Westfield.

Her digging managed to produce a few key information. That Dr. Abernathy, the man Westfield had worked with to create Kryptonite Man had gone missing three days ago.

And that Jeremiah Danvers, Kara's adoptive father, was acquired by Cadmus after working for the DEO. He was one of the few people who ended up working on the Cyborg Superman project, being forced to save Hank Henshaw's life in the first place. He kept his files organized, and well coded that no one could replicate his experiments. It would seem that he cooperated the best he could to keep his family out of it.

But after the first raids at the National City Cadmus labs, his activities had dropped. Cadmus stopped monitoring him and the progress of his work had halted.

This is why Lena felt the urgency to talk to Kate that day. They've been trying to figure out where the last few Cadmus labs were, where the main base was, and where Westfield kept disappearing to in National City.

Her urgency on the matter had only been fueled by her mother's quick visit that morning to tell her that she and Westfield had believed it was time she learned more about their prized projects and that the good doctor would touch base with her in a few days.

Kate was on it in an instant, and with the help of Earth-1 Oliver and Felicity Smoak, she hoped they could figure it all out before Westfield even contacts her.

At the very least, find something, _anything_ , that could help them take Cadmus down.

"Your brother has big plans Lena." her mother had said that morning, haunting her until now. "And he's quite pleased that he could share it all with you."

Lena gave her no reply then, just a nod. Her mother's words had sent a shiver down her spine. It terrified her.

Lex.

_What are you planning now?_

Lena turned, her fingers grazing the shape of Kara's face, memorizing every detail of it, of this quiet moment they have, before leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Kara's cheeks.

She could feel Kara smiling before she pulled away only for Kara to sleepily lean in for a proper kiss.

And Lena found herself completely immersed in the moment. If she could, she would definitely stop time and freeze it. Just so that she and Kara could stay the way they were for the rest of her days.

But of course with all the chaos currently running around them, it couldn't be that simple or perfect.

"Hey Kara, sorry to drop by unannounced, your sister said we could just… oh… uh… um… sorry, carry on…" Barry started muttering as he opened the door to Kara's apartment, marching in with Sara and Thea right behind him.

Kara pulled away, biting her lip, her cheeks flushing as she sat up and straightened up. Lena, in turned, glared at the boy who dared not knock.

"Sorry, we seem to be disturbing something." Sara commented with a chuckle.

"I would assume you're here for important matters?" Lena asked as Kara struggled to have a functioning mind at the moment.

Lena could understand however.

They haven't exactly told anyone they were seeing each other. They've had like two dates, including the one so rudely being interrupted at the moment. The only ones who knew were Kate, Kara's sister, Alex, and apparently her sister's girlfriend, Maggie Sawyer.

And Lena supposed that technically Oliver Queen of Earth-1 and the nervously rambling hacker he worked with also knew now too.

"Uh, yeah, we're here to borrow _something_." Thea replied, unsure how to act.

Whatever that something was, however, was clear to Kara as she instantly got out of her couch and went to her bedroom to get it.

"Uh, hello again." Barry then said, trying to awkwardly fill the silence that had settled upon them in the living room once Kara had left. "Sorry to, um, interrupt your date."

Lena simply smiled in response, hearing Sara address Barry "Next time, we should probably call first."

Barry simply shrugged, not sure on what they've stumbled upon.

Lena reached out to grab her phone just as Kara stepped back out, awkward exchanges of 'ums' and 'thanks' and quite possibly Sara Lance saying something along the lines of 'clearly you've got _super_ moves on the ladies too to land the hot one'.

Lena wasn't sure, she wasn't exactly paying attention.

As Kara and her super friends stood awkwardly about in her own living room, trying to get sorted with Lena in the room, the CEO saw a message she received from Kate asking her to drop by as soon as she could.

There seemed to have been some developments.

But more than that she could feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she saw a missed call from her mother.

 _What could that woman possibly want?_ she asked herself.

Only to look up and find Kara looking behind her, concerned expression on her face. Lena realized that the beating of her heart could have changed and caused some alarm with Kara – to which, she wasn't quite sure how to react to but be overwhelmed to think that the woman she _loved_ listened to every beat of her heart.

 _The woman she…_ Lena thought to herself, simply catching herself off guard at the word that had so easily slipped from the deepest corners of her mind.

Lena could feel Sara studying her just as Kara asked "Everything okay?"

"I'm not quite sure. My mother called." Lena informed Kara, and instantly Kara had held her in her arms.

"What does she want?" Kara asked, her tone sounding very protective of her.

And Lena noticed, for the first time, that her Supergirl persona was slipping into Kara Danvers, blurring the lines between the two lives she had been keeping apart.

Lena tried to assure Kara that everything would be okay, painfully aware of the three pairs of eyes trained on her at the moment, reading her every movement. She placed a hand on Kara's cheeks and smiled. "Don't worry Kara, I can handle my mother."

"But Lena…" Kara protested as she felt Lena's hands fall away from her face, the CEO starting to collect her things.

"Sorry for cutting the evening short, Kara. I think it's best I figure out what that woman wants from me as soon as I can." Lena said, not bothering to hide the distaste in her voice. When she turned to see the wrinkle in Kara's brows, Lena walked towards her again and placed her hands on Kara's shoulders. She felt her relax from the touch, but her anxiousness over the matter was still clear in her eyes.

She felt Kara's hands rest on her waists again, holding her in her place and not wanting to let her go.

"Kara, your friends need you." Lena pointed out. "And I can handle my mother." she repeated. "But I want to make sure she's not planning a coup from my board of directors and find out she's taken over my company. I don't think my mother having power over a multi-billion corporation would be a great idea."

"Okay, but you call me as soon as you're done talking to her. When you get home." Kara said and somehow Lena has a feeling that if she didn't oblige she'll find Supergirl outside the balcony of her apartment checking on her.

Of course she had no idea that Kara would do that anyways later that night after she had called and gone to bed to make sure that not a single hair was out of place on Lena's head.

They never talk about it much, details on her mother and what she does just that she's been trying to sway L-Corp and take control of it. Just that she disapproved of Lena and undermined how she was handling L-Corp.

Made her feel lacking, unloved, uncared for.

Things that Kara easily got upset about, even before Cadmus was brought into the picture. Not that 'Kara Danvers' should know anything about it.

But Kara never liked how Lillian made Lena feel, so Cadmus or no Cadmus, she wasn't fond of her mother.

"I will. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Lena replied, giving Kara a quick kiss on the cheeks.

"I'll bring you lunch." Kara easily announced and Lena nodded.

She sent Kate a quick and simple reply to tip her off and she was on her way.

Off to a date with the devil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's a rather long list of Easter Eggs in this chapter:
> 
> Kate's Comment on Earth-38 Barry: In the comics, Barry was born in Fallville, Iowa and studied at a university in Sun City before moving to Central City. I thought it would be good to mention this because in season one of Supergirl, Barry searched for Cisco, Caitlyn, S.T.A.R. labs and himself and said that there are no records of himself or the rest of them in Central City, so if we assume that he hasn't moved or that he didn't grow up in Central City and he limited his search there (say through looking up addresses or cross-referencing his name to people born in Central City) then he wouldn't pop or seem to not exist. Meanwhile, S.T.A.R. Labs could form at some point in the future, just not during the events of the current season.
> 
> Kate's additional comment about the cosmic treadmill: I don't really think I need to explain this but it's technically the time travel device that The Flash uses when he wants to time-travel precisely as well as travel between multiple earths
> 
> J'onn's comment: Crisis on Infinite Earths – It's a reference to some events of the story because characters who had counter parts from different earths started to die off (along with some other characters who didn't exactly have counter parts) and the earths soon became one - def recommend reading this one
> 
> Ollie's Earth-38 Backstory: Ollie's parents died in a safari accident (mauled by lions) and trained in archery by the actor who played Robin Hood (his idol/Howard Hill) in the comics before being raised by his uncle (Side note: I was tempted to adopt the Smallville explanation but decided against it in the last minute :P In my head Smallville events are in a different earth). In Green Arrow: Year One, he is betrayed by his bodyguard (Hackett) that's why he falls off his boat and is presumed dead when he washes ashore an island - also recommend reading this one
> 
> Deathstroke's Earth-38 Backstory VS Earth-1 Backstory: RE: chapter 8, a closer history on how he became Deathstroke in the comic story than in Arrow's and Oliver's comment was basically just to point out that he still became Deathstroke despite the difference.
> 
> Ray's Comment on Earth-1 Lena and his cousin: One of the comic book versions of Supergirl is Linda Lee Danvers, and if I'm not mistaken, she's the version of Supergirl who becomes BFFs and roommates with Lena Thorul in a boarding school ;) While they are friends, Lena (in that storyline) initially hated Supergirl. It gets complicated because in that story she's initially on Lex's side, but I thought that since Earth-1 doesn't have a Supergirl and Ray noted that his cousin looked like Kara (I know it's in reference to his Superman Returns stint), I thought that it might be fun to adopt that as a backstory for the two in Earth-1 with my own creative liberties added to the mix.
> 
> Lena's comment on Ray: Again, in the comics, Raymond Palmer is a professor at Ivy University, Ivy Town. Since Lena is, well, Lena freaking Luthor, I figured they would have met at some point.
> 
> Felicity's comment on the Arrow plot: thought it might be a nice little recap on things :P
> 
> Everyone else is assumed to be living their own lives somewhere. I didn't note Thea as Mia Dearden/Speedy since Ollie in Earth-38 isn't Green Arrow yet and they don't meet until Ollie's return from the dead (some weird misadventures that involved mullet Superman – I say weird 'cause demons get involved and there's some weird DC comics heaven scene in the story… see Green Arrow: Quiver - overall it's an entertaining read)
> 
> UPNEXT: A focus on Sanvers (that I ended up moving to the next chapter because it felt like it better fit in that chapter), the heroes jump into action for the first time (and of course Cat Grant takes notice), the promised awkward rooftop talk with Barry, Kara, and Sara because of reasons… and Kara kissing Lena when she shouldn't be kissing a Luthor


	18. Attack on Kryptonite Man Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's chapter 18 featuring a Sanvers heart-to-heart, a build-up to something Lillian's planning to do, an encounter with the Kryptonite Man, Kara who just can't stop kissing Lena, and an awkward rooftop scene because Kara can't string two sentences together, Barry has no idea why he's even participating in the conversation, and Sara keeps on filling the blanks for her.
> 
> Title is in homage to 'Attack on Titan' for some strange reason (I don't know, it popped into my head)…

Alex had been holding her own against Thea sufficiently well, and despite having a hard time keeping up with Sara the other day, she took it as a compliment to her skills.

They've been trained somewhat equally, Sara having an edge on experience over Thea. Kate had kept repeating that since the two were to some extent both trained by the League of Assassins, it would be a good idea to test her skills against them. So Alex took a bit pride in knowing she was good to begin with and getting even better.

She notes the improvements because some of the thing she's learned in Kate's way of fighting, with the gymnastics and acrobatics lessons, were definitely proving to be useful.

It's been day four since the arrival of the Earth-1 heroes. Alex was partially thankful for the lack of trouble and partially worried. It had just been too quiet for her liking lately. The most they had to deal with was a bank robbery that the Flash had stopped, and the media wasn't even still quite sure about who really stopped the robbery in the first place since all they saw was a red blur that could very well have just been just Supergirl's cape swooshing around.

Alex and Thea were currently taking a break as they watched Kate and Sara go at it with training. Alex has never seen it happen before, but it looked like Kate had met her match. She was breathing heavy, struggling to keep up after two hours of restless sparring, with her stubbornness the only thing keeping her going. They started two hours ago with hand to hand combat. At some point Kate grabbed two staffs and made things more interesting with their little spar.

Sara managed to finally knock her off her feet, Kate's back hitting the mat hard still breathing heavy. Alex realized that fatigue was taking hold of her, and finally she understood what Kate said that while she has developed her skills over the years, she's been rather limited by what she could do because of a certain injury, the stab wound on her chest.

And somehow Alex realized Kate's motivations for training her even more.

She wanted to have someone who could become better than her without being restricted by her limitations.

Honestly though, Alex was still a whole lot impressed by Sara's fighting skills.

Sara stepped forward, staff still in hand, as she used it to point at the scar on Kate's chest, the socialite only finally starting to catch her breath as she lay still for a moment.

"Still haven't told me how you got this." Sara hummed.

"Oh, a terrorist cult abducted and drugged me in an attempt to carve out my heart to fulfill a prophecy in their Crime Bible. It got a bit crazy, convoluted, and complicated, but their leader at the time had stabbed me through the heart when the cavalry of sorts - and by cavalry I mean the woman I was dating at the time - came to my rescue and I pulled out the knife in my chest to stab and stop him from going after her." Kate replied as she steadied her breath.

"How are you still alive?" Sara asked with a chuckle, reaching out to offer a hand to help her out.

"A whole lot of luck, said ex-girlfriend, and a little something called pseudoderm. How about you? Those look nasty." Kate asked, pointing out the scars Sara had from the arrows Thea had shot her with.

"Oh, my ex's little sister was mind-controlled and drugged of sorts by her very evil dad and shot me with arrows to kill me before falling from the rooftop we were in." Sara explained with an air of nonchalance.

Which prompted a "Hey, I said I was sorry!" from Thea that surprised Alex a bit. "I'm glad you're alive now. I had to struggle with killing you, you know."

"All is forgiven. It's Malcom's fault, we know that." Sara replied before turning her attention to Kate and Alex with their questioning looks. "Yeah, I died. My sister dug up my grave and took me to something called the Lazarus Pit and bring me back to life as a blood-crazed killer. I'm a whole lot better now though." Sara explained.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that either." Thea then said.

Alex turned and looked at Thea with a curious look. "You too?" she asked. "Also, what's the Lazarus Pit?"

"Long story." Kate, Sara, and Thea chorused. "I'm surprised Ra's let your sister use it." Kate went on.

"No, he didn't. Ollie killed him for good in our earth. It got complicated, but the pit's been destroyed by her daughter now so it's no longer of use."

Kate looked shocked upon hearing that this Ra's guy was killed before she quirked an eyebrow at Sara. "You sure he's dead? There's more than one Lazarus Pit in this earth." Kate informed her. "To be honest, I'm surprised Talia would destroy the pit and leave her father dead."

"Well, he hasn't tried taking control of the League again, or re-establishing it for that matter." Sara explained. "Oh, and not Talia, Nyssa. His other daughter. She was sort of also an ex."

Kate nodded, simply accepting the facts of what Sara said. Alex had more questions but the two seemed to have found themselves in a comfortable conversation on who they thought was the better daughter. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" Alex asked Thea.

"I think they're talking about crushes." Thea replied uncertain. Alex chuckled in response and excused herself to check on a few things she had going on in the background.

The DEO was still busy with figuring out ways to deal with the oncoming alien threat. Half of the department's resources was focused on building safeguards in case the Blight arrives in National City. J'onn stayed in touch with the League to make sure they were on top of things.

Mon-El and M'gann were both assigned to tracking the whereabouts of Kryptonite Man, J'onn making sure that Kara stayed the hell away from that Cadmus monstrosity. Kara had tried to argue that she should help but everyone, including her friends from Earth-1, agreed that keeping her away would be the safest bet.

Supergirl had grumpily obliged, instead focusing her attention to being National City's main crime-fighter. Barry had joined her and James with patrolling at night, with the Scarlet Speedster still keeping a low profile for now. It was mostly just to make sure that she'll be okay, especially with the threat from Cadmus still loose.

Felicity had been reportedly helping Kate and Oracle back at her own base with Cadmus.

Winn's been busy on a whole lot of things, including helping figure out how to send the Earth-1 heroes back once all this threat of an invasion was over and whatever Barry had done to disrupt their timeline would settle down. Cisco has argued that he could potentially use his powers again to get them back or Kara's device that was now _temporarily_ with the DEO as they tried to figure things out. It seemed that Cisco could still use his powers, somewhat, he just couldn't create breaches.

They did, however, establish some sort of connection with Earth-1, allowing for everyone to check on things, make sure that their cities are protected, and talk to their loved ones. Winn and Cisco were proud of their accomplishments, re-establishing connection proved to be tricky at the start. The two had now become best buddies and were currently designing weapons they could use against the Blight with the help of Ray.

Ray's been working with Alex too, mostly to help Caitlyn deal with her powers and control it better. She and Alex had become good friends since they arrived. Using Kate's old alien detention cuffs as a base, they've managed to make new bracelets for Caitlyn that would allow her to use her abilities without turning into the Killer Frost. They were still testing things out, however.

Mick was mostly just dozing off, thankfully not creating any trouble.

In the meantime, Oliver was helping Kate with Cadmus, the raids with the labs still ongoing. With the DEO's manpower stretched thin, Kate managed to find help from her cousin who was apparently a part of some different group of young heroes too. They found a few more Cadmus labs and planned to strike as soon as they can, starting from the labs they found underneath an old LuthorCorp chemical factory under its subsidiary company LexChemical, one of the subsidiaries that Lena had immediately shut down because of its potential involvement with some of Lex's more nefarious plans.

The Green Arrow and Batwoman raided a different facility just the other night and were now focusing on targeting the rest of the labs they found scattered along the coast. By Alex's count, only three more facilities remained unfound, and one of them was being turned into their main base of operations what with the raids interfering with their enemy's plans, or so Kate's  _source_ tells her.

Alex was torn about who that possible source was. A part of her was suspecting it was Lena Luthor doing the digging for her, there was that visit at Kate's on a Monday afternoon that made her consider it. And while Lena tried to hide it, there was a sense of urgency in her actions.

But then again there was a part of Alex that couldn't help but wonder if it was her father helping Kate out.

It was the part that was wishing so hard that he was in contact with someone outside, that they weren't hurting him. That he was actively fighting back.

"Are you okay?" Alex heard Oliver say as he approached her. "You look deep in thought." He looked like he just got out of training in the other room, both Felicity and Winn looking at him strangely.

Alex saw Winn blink a few times before getting himself back to work. Felicity too. Alex couldn't help but chuckle at their reactions before turning to Oliver.

"I'm fine. Just wanted to check that everyone's okay and that J'onn doesn't need my help." Alex replied.

Oliver nodded. "I think everything's fine, Alex. For now at least. You should really consider taking a break, you look tired. Actually, I think we all need a break, we've been training every day since we got here, and with all the crazy things happening, I think it's just about time we grabbed a decent drink somewhere."

"Did I just here you say we all need a break?" Felicity immediately asked, storming right back into the hallway.

Oliver shrugged. "I mean, the doomsday plots we have to deal with can't be good for the morale of the team, right? Besides, I've been told that I need to be more lighthearted a few times over since I got here by people who knew this earth's Oliver Queen. I'm starting to think that maybe they have a point."

Alex chuckled and nodded. "Right. My girlfriend's been scolding me too. Life doesn't end just because we face a few threats, at least that's what she said. Things have just gotten out of whack lately, fear's running all of us. I think that might be a good idea."

"So then, we're going to go out? I thought Ollie can't be seen by a lot of people?" Felicity pointed out.

"Oh, I think I know the perfect place where we could hang out." Alex then replied with a grin.

* * *

Maggie wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting when she walked into the bar and saw a mix of alien regulars along with the meta-humans and vigilantes of Earth-1. Alex had called for a game of pool, something that shocked Maggie considering that a week after Kara went MIA, pool had been long forgotten and Alex has lost herself in dedicating in training and stopping whatever threat her sister can't stop. It sounded like a nice change of pace really.

When she arrived, Maggie quickly scanned the room and assessed the situation, that is, what everyone was doing. It was mostly out of habit really.

Winn, James, Kara, Barry Allen, the meta-human known as the Flash, and Cisco Ramone, the meta responsible for the breaches last Thanksgiving and also known as Vibe, were all animatedly talking by the bar, they were closest to the entrance than any of the others. Cisco was gushing about the different alien species they were encountering, Kara explaining who and what each one of them were in between distractedly checking her phone and smiling before tapping a few more buttons. Winn was raving about the wings while Barry couldn't help appreciate the fact that some of the more 'other worldly' drinks affected him a little. James just watched in amazement at how everyone seemed to be just taking things in a breeze.

Just a stool away was Sara Lance talking to Mon-El. The Daxamite seemed to be trying to pull off his charms on the White Canary and Sara looked like she was holding her own, all while Mon-El's efforts were falling flat on her. If anything, Mon-El seemed more taken by her than having it the other way around.

Kate, on the other hand, was in one booth with Oliver, they looked more somber as they talked. Based on the light smile on the redhead and how she looked comfortable with the way she sat down opposite Oliver, Maggie could guess that they were talking about lighter matters for once.

Which was good. She had given Kate an earful a few nights ago for the insane training schedule she has for Alex. Maggie didn't mean to be too overprotective, she was just worried really. Something changed in Alex when Kara disappeared.

"She's not your pet project or protégé." Maggie had huffed having a moment with Batwoman on one of National City's rooftops.

"No she's not. She's even better." Kate had admitted.

"So stop pushing her hard." she retorted.

Kate took a deep breath and sighed in response. "I'm not pushing her, Maggie. I want to keep her alive. Partly for you. We have so many things we're up against now, so many things that keep happening around us all at the same time. What if instead of me dropping in on Supergirl and Guardian the first time Deathstroke came rolling into town it was Alex? His sword managed to leave a mark on me and I'm wearing a liquid armor on my suit to make it bulletproof and stab-resistant, especially after that sacrificial ritual incident." she had then said.

"So give her that!"

"I can and I will. I fully intend to. But that won't exactly protect her from Kryptonite Man. From Cyborg Supermen flying around town if Cadmus so chooses to unleash it. From Project 13, if Cadmus gets its way. And what if Supergirl goes missing again? What if Superman is out of commission and can't help? What f J'onn falls? M'gann fails? And while Mon-El's having fun with this superhero gig, he isn't exactly Mr. Reliable just yet, I don't think he's fully grasp it. We have a very dangerous enemy, Maggie."

"I know but…" Maggie had countered.

"She's not me." Kate had then said, catching her off guard. "She won't… she won't lose sight of what's important."

She still found it so easy to read her and sometimes Maggie found it annoying.

"She lives in the light. Cadmus, they're just temporary storm clouds covering the day. I live in the dark. She still has something to hold dear. You know Alex will do everything to save her sister, protect her family. Might as well equip her with everything she can use." Kate had argued before she disappeared into the night.

And that conversation made Maggie think that maybe something didn't change.

Something was just uncovered.

Maggie knew Alex always felt responsible for her sister, for watching out for her, protecting her, but something about the thought of losing Kara flipped a switch in Alex and while she would let Maggie close, let her take care of her, scold her even when she overdoes something, she was keeping her at an arms' length, the DEO agent having her focus elsewhere.

She looked around and saw Thea Queen playing pool with Ray Palmer. Mick Rory behaving as best he could while mingling with the rest of the bar crowd.

Maggie kept scanning around until she saw Caitlyn Snow, the meta-human who refused to use her powers unless she absolutely has to, in one booth talking with Felicity Smoak, hacker extraordinaire or so Barry introduced her, and Alex.

Alex who looked a bit tired but somewhat relaxed in her seat.

Maggie wasted no time in making her way to her girlfriend. "Your girlfriend is an absolute genius, Detective Sawyer. Just absolutely amazing." Caitlyn said when she reached Alex's side. Caitlyn raised her hand to show the new bracelets on her wrists. Something less bulky that she didn't need to remove and that allows her to better control her abilities.

"I just really know how to pick 'em." Maggie said with a wink, "Are you ready for that game of pool Danvers?"

"I don't know. I didn't realize how tired I've been not until we got here. I think you might actually beat me this time." Alex replied.

Maggie nodded, keeping her eyes on Alex. "Mind if I borrow you for a while?" she then asked with a weak smile. Alex sensed the subtle urgency in her tone and the two soon excused themselves from the group, stepping outside and walking a few short feet away from the entrance. Maggie couldn't help but remember that night she chased after Alex when she left her back in the bar, kissing her in the rain.

They've made strides of progress with their relationship from back then.

But somehow Maggie felt like they suddenly halted and hit a wall, not that she wanted things to go faster, it was just, something's changed.

And it felt like she was losing Alex to something wasn't entirely even sure of.

It was just a feeling, but Maggie didn't like that feeling.

She felt that feeling before.

With a certain redhead who wanted to move heaven and earth to get her sister back and who wanted to chase down the people responsible to the tragedies of her life.

Until it consumed her, the feeling of being responsible, of falling short. Until the weight of her mistakes crushed her.

Until she realized that the demons she kept chasing away would never leave her, even when they face them head on.

Until being Batwoman got in between them.

Until they knew that something had to give, and that just had to be them.

But that was Kate.

It was hard but Maggie knew the sun would shine again. Kate couldn't ask Maggie to give up happiness and she couldn't stop running after whatever she was running after. And Maggie was supposed to be the workaholic obsessed with her job.

It ended with a letter and when they saw each other again they promised to slowly rebuild their friendship again, because they needed each other to keep their city safe. They needed to put their feelings aside.

It took a few hard cases to find new ground but it wasn't enough for Maggie to find whatever she was looking for. Kate had reverted to being unreadable and guarded when she was once so easy to read. And while they remained honest with each other and talked when they needed a friend, that friendship couldn't fully heal her heart, not when they've gotten so close to that promised happy ending.

But perhaps it was because her heart was never really Kate's to hold or heal.

And what Maggie needed was time.

It finally took moving away from Gotham and starting new in National City. Repeat the cycle of mending and re-breaking her heart, only to find each time that the girls that came in and out of her life, they didn't fit. Human or not.

And then Alex came.

An immovable force, a hurricane uprooting her.

Slowly but surely, building up its force with each knocking gust.

Until Maggie woke up one day and realized just how terrified she was of the damage that Alex could really cause her.

Because she wasn't entirely sure she could endure the loss if she lost Alex that way.

Or in any way at all.

"So what's up? Is everything okay?" Alex asked, inquisitive look on her face. It was masking the concern and worry that was so clearly written her eyes as she tried to put a brave face on.

Alex could tell something was bothering Maggie just as much as Maggie could tell that there was something going on with Alex.

"I feel like I should be asking you that." Maggie started, speaking as honestly as she can. "I mean, I know we've got a lot of crazy things happening around us, but I just… I don't know Alex, I feel like we're making progress and… it's… the way you're pushing yourself too hard, like there's nothing else that mattered. The way you're pushing yourself to your limits, it scares me. I'm afraid to lose you to whatever it is that's driving you to do that. I get why when Kara disappeared, I know you had to step up, to do something. I know we've talked about it, how you feel responsible for your sister, for protecting this world. And I know we have the threat of an invasion, Kryptonite Man, Cadmus, but we're not all holed up in a training room in the DEO all day like it was the only thing that mattered. You're not alone Alex, you're not supposed to be a one-woman army."

Alex looked at her a little lost, listening to what Maggie was saying. She shook her head. "Then what am I supposed to do? Maggie I… I allowed myself one moment, just one moment of happiness, one short period of bliss and…" she started to say before she sighed. Alex pursed her lips together looking away for a minute before looking back at her, eyes pleading to understand. "I let myself think that for one moment my life was normal, and ordinary, and despite the insanity of things going around us, things were okay. But then I blink, close my eyes for a minute and Kara's gone for two weeks, Cadmus sets a murderer on the loose, we have an impending alien invasion, there's something weird going on with the multiverse, and everything just decides to happen all at once. I want to be ready Maggie. I want to be prepared when it all comes crashing down. I want to be able to fight and protect the people I care about. Kara, my friends, my mom. And you, Maggie, you." Alex went on. She looked terrified, like the thought of the worse shook her to her core.

"The impossible kind of just keeps happening around us, you know?" Alex sighed. "When Kara was gone I was so scared, you know that. They already have my father, Maggie, if they get their hands on my sister too or if anything happens to Kara… I just… It can't happen. I can't lose Kara because I wasn't prepared to fight, because I wasn't good enough. I mean look around. Oliver, Sara, Thea, Kate, they all fight differently and they've pretty much survived things that should have left them dead. And they're only human, no superpower or anything. When I didn't know where Cadmus could have taken Kara months ago, Kate was there and with Oracle's help found her with ease and helped us. When Deathstroke attacked, Batwoman and Nightwing were the ones that helped my sister, not me, no, because we were dealing with an army of super soldiers that worked for him. What if we come by an enemy I can't deal with and face? I can't protect Kara from? What if I fall short? I can't let that happen."

Maggie nodded slowly, somehow what Kate said came back to her. Alex would do anything in her power to keep Kara safe, and it might just get her killed if she was reckless. And if Maggie knew anything, the Danvers sisters had a bad habit of jumping headlong into danger without a second thought, without even thinking about their own well-being.

One wrong move and it could be the end.

But Maggie knew that much. She knew how Alex was and it was just one of the things that she admired so much about her. Although she had to be honest, Alex rarely spoke about her father to her. She knew that Cadmus had him, that much Alex had shared.

But she never talked about how she felt. She never talked about how it broke her.

And somehow Maggie was making sense of it now.

The loss, the pain.

From the look in Alex's eyes, the way her lips trembled as she spoke. The restlessness.

And Maggie was getting the feeling that Alex was partially blaming herself on why they still haven't gotten Jeremiah back.

She could see it, the weight of the world on Alex's shoulders, threatening to crush her.

Along with the weight of the responsibility she felt. And while they never talked about it, she could see how the thought of losing Kara could have driven her to the edge. Because Alex was anything but helpless, she was one of the best the DEO had to offer, and if she fails her sister like how she may have felt like she's already failed her father…

Maggie huffed and shook her head, placing her hands on Alex's shoulders. Alex met her gaze, looking apprehensive but soon Alex relaxed in her touch.

Maggie wasn't mad.

She just wished Alex would stop forgetting that she was right there _with_ her.

"Alex, listen to me." Maggie slowly said, holding Alex's gaze. "You're perfect the way you are, so don't start thinking you need to be just like _them_." she went on, remembering what Kate had said. And Maggie was slowly coming around to that thought. Oliver, Sara, Thea, Kate, heck even the Batman and his associates, they lived in the dark. They prowled the city in the dark, they've used fear to get what they want, and some of them took lives with ease, that much she knew now.

But Alex, she might have made mistakes, but she kept hope alive. She might have fallen a few times, but she stood up, and she hasn't let the darkness in, not just yet and if it ever did try to enter, it didn't stay completely. She hasn't let grief consume her completely. Maggie understood Kate's argument, and Alex's argument too, but that can't be all of it.

"You can't protect anyone if you've forgotten how to live your life, if you forget to live as Alex Danvers. You can't just spend all your time obsessing about getting better. There's a room for that, yes, I understand your point on it. But if you keep your eyes on that far away image of what might come, what is still to come, you're gonna miss the things that are right in front of you. Your friends, your family, your happiness. And you're allowed that, to be happy, because you don't know when it will all end." Maggie said, her hands resting around the nape of Alex's neck as she gently pulled her close, her eyes never leaving Alex's. "You need to savor the moments too, find a balance. Because you may lack the same experience they've all built but here you are raising hell against the best of them. Alex, don't forget that you're pretty great yourself, and smart, and beautiful, and amazing, and maybe a bit of a nerd but you're _my_ nerd and personally I don't mind."

Alex nodded, resting her head against Maggie's. She released a nervous chuckle as she smiled.

"Besides, you've got me. And if the weight of the world on your shoulders gets too heavy, please don't forget that I'm here to share your burden, to help you lift it up. Don't forget that if it gets too much, it's okay to ask for my help because I'll be giving it to you anyways, whether you like it or not. You can't let saving the world outweigh your life Danvers, because that's how heroes break. When they lose sight of what's important. When all they have are vague ideals they want to fight for without rooting themselves in what they mean." Maggie went on before releasing a shaky breath, hoping against all hope that she was getting through to Alex and that Alex truly understood what she meant.

She failed once before.

And she didn't want to fail again. No, not with Alex.

"I'm not running away Danvers, I'm right here, so live a little with me, will you?" she asked, hopeful.

Alex's smile got bigger and nodded once more. "I'll try." she said, her worries dissipating a little as she pulled Maggie into a hug.

"Try harder, dummy, because damn it Danvers, I love you and I won't let _this_ consume you." Maggie replied, nuzzling her head in the crook of Alex's neck as she pulled her impossibly closer, strong arms tightening around Alex, afraid to ever let her go.

But Alex pulls away slightly, goofy grin on her face. "You love me?" she all but whispered as she asked Maggie half in happily surprised by the little slip up and half in disbelief.

As if it was a dream.

And Maggie shook her head and laughed.

 _Of course…_ Maggie thought.

She's never said it before. Not out loud. And not to Alex, no.

And she's very rarely said it to anyone at all.

"Of course I do. Why would you even ask that?"

Alex shrugged, running her fingers through Maggie's hair as she looked at her like she was the very stars that graced the night.

And for some reason Maggie could feel her heart threatening to jump right out of chest.

"Well I love you too." she heard Alex say.

* * *

"Sorry it's just me and Kate you're getting, it's just, you know, can't draw attention to someone who's supposedly lost in sea." Felicity instantly rambled as Lena saw her walk inside of her office alongside Kate.

Kate had her hand in her jacket pocket, slightly pulling it out to show the jammer in her hand in case Cadmus was trying to listen in. Lena was entirely convinced that taking caution would be necessary. While it would have been safer to talk at Kate's little base, she couldn't take the risk of drawing suspicion on herself by deviating much from her usual routines.

Once or twice could be believable, especially when Kate was all about keeping up with appearances with the press and her sometimes troubled socialite lifestyle bought Lena an excuse to show up at her apartment in the middle of a workday.

But not when everyday she felt the need to check in on things.

The most recent of the Cadmus raids had both her mom and Westfield on edge. Most of their most valuable projects had already been moved to safety, except for a few that Lena wasn't sure about. Westfield refused to tell her anything until things settled down and it was getting Lena just as antsy.

She took comfort, however, in the fact that she had both him and her mother nervous and shaking with the threat of a recent discovery coming to light.

The current source of funds that Cadmus seemed to have in a steady supply.

The labs that the Green Arrow had targeted alongside Batwoman revealed information on recent acquisitions by Thunder Corporation, including a list of old LuthorCorp facilities sold just before Lex's fall, and a few routing information on transfers for payments and 'donations' to a certain stem cell research center.

Hence, Lillian's urgent call to Lena.

Oracle and Overwatch had wasted no time in cracking down on this little tidbit of information and digging their cyber hands into whatever they could find about Thunder Corporation and their relationship with LuthorCorp and/or Cadmus. They immediately traced back transactions between Cadmus and Thunder Corp, and their little ragtag team might have decided to make Cadmus literally pay a bit for their crimes, Felicity hacking into bank accounts and rerouting transfers into a few different charities and foundations, including one that aids new alien refugees that the government had set-up just after signing the Alien Amnesty Act.

All while Oracle looked deeper into the powerful corporation that was funding them.

This, of course, sent Lillian into a frenzy. She wanted Lena to figure out a way to allocate funds from L-Corp, or at least one if its subsidiary companies, as Cadmus' own techs figure out what happened to the missing funds.

Lena said she'll see what she could do. They agreed, after all, to keep L-Corp away from Cadmus.

Of course Lena has no interest in lifting a finger whatsoever in helping her mom. But that doesn't mean she wasn't actually doing anything.

On the contrary, she's reached out to a few powerful CEOs who are now currently interested in becoming shareholders in Thunder Corp, including Ted Kord and Bruce Wayne.

Currently, Thunder Corporation was a legitimate company, despite its questionable ties to Cadmus, something that seemed to be buried well beneath its more successful projects. The current chairman and principal stockholder was a man named Lucius D. Tommytown. At a glance, he seemed to be as real as a human being can get, but with a bit of research, they managed to find that the person who appears as Mr. Tommytown is actually a hired actor. With a last name like 'Tommytown' and the fact that the Zephyr building which houses the main offices of Thunder Corp used to be Lex's own building and even housed his penthouse at one point, Lena couldn't help but wonder how anyone was even fooled at all. They should have seen it coming.

They should have known that it was Lex all along.

"Please tell me you have good news." Lena said as she invited the two to sit.

"A little bit of both." Kate honestly replied.

Lena simply quirked her eyebrow, urging Kate to elaborate on what she meant. "Ted and Bruce are definitely fighting to both gain major stocks in the company, especially since their activities have quieted down the last few months without Lex to plan much of anything. The problem is that Thunder Corp's still a pretty powerful company. They're not entirely in bad shape, they're shares have gone up by ten percent just the last few months and is projected to keep doing so in the coming year, so I doubt any stockholder is in the market to sell their shares."

"I am, however, working with Oracle right now, we're currently setting up a dummy company and Ted Kord's starting to reach the right ears from within Thunder Corp. If we're successful, we'll be able to get them to make one wrong investment that could lead them financially vulnerable." Felicity then interjected.

Lena nodded. "Pumping and dumping stocks was something Lex loved to do. Oh, I'd pay to see his reaction when he finds out what we've done if we succeed. We might actually be able to have either Kord Enterprise or Wayne Enterprise to buy the company outright if we play this right. Hell, we can even liquidate the company afterwards and have the funds go to charity." she said, a self-satisfied smirk forming on her lips as she leaned back on her chair.

"That's if this Bruce or Ted cooperate with the plan. I don't understand how you managed to convince two of the wealthiest men in this earth, technically our earth too, to play along with this. Why not just use L-Corp?" Felicity then asked.

"That would just allow my mom to sink her teeth into it, not to mention stain the already tarnished Luthor name even more. Besides, I'm not supposed to know anything about this sudden interest in the shares of Thunder Corp. If she wanted me to do something about it, she would tell me, which means that they would rather have that company still under Lex's control one way or another." Lena replied.

It made sense. If L-Corp falls, Thunder Corp would be safe and vice versa. One reason could simply well be that Lillian didn't trust Lena enough, and handing her power over their safest and most steady source for funding might prove detrimental. And again, if they successfully cut Cadmus' financial umbilical cord, L-Corp, and by extension Lena, would prove to be even more valuable to Cadmus than she was now.

And Lena's already secured her position with her own board. She had been quite clear in a very  _persuasive_ waythat they prove their loyalty to her and only her, Lena Luthor.

"Bruce is my cousin. It helps that he's not a fan of Lex too. I can't make a move myself, my step-mom would get curious and it's best not to get her involved in this." Kate replied, not revealing much of anything else. "As for Ted, well he owes me a personal favor."

Felicity and Lena both looked at her curiously and Kate simply shrugged. "League stuff."

"What, you guys have a league for socialites and business magnates?" Felicity asked confused.

Lena and Kate exchanged looks before Kate replied. "Not exactly, but I guess you can say it's something like that."

Felicity simply nodded and the three talked more on potential backup plans and updates.

Lena's trying to familiarize herself more and more with the active projects in Cadmus. Sadly, with the little derailment with the missing funds, Westfield hasn't been in much contact. Lillian was, but she mostly wanted to know what Lena was doing about their conundrum.

And knowing her mother, she was probably already trying to figure something out herself.

There were still so many factors to consider, so many things that could go wrong, Lena knew that.

And yet, she couldn't help herself feel a little bit victorious with their current moves.

It was starting, Lena could feel it. Cadmus' fall.

All she wasn't sure of was whether or not she'd survive the collapse.

But that was a thought for another day.

* * *

Kara was giggling. She couldn't help it. There was a permanent smile plastered on her face and her heart was full like never before.

They day itself started to be challenging with work, Snapper feeling extra moody that day, and really between him and Cat Grant – who was trying real hard not to fire her current assistant for her current mess ups – Kara really needed a break.

Thankfully James seemed to get everything under control because between two bank robberies, an assault, and a rogue alien attack, Kara really needed to depend on someone to handle everything else.

Lunch had been consistent with Lena that week, it had become their day to day thing now to be honest. However, lunch that day had to be cancelled with both of them being too busy. Kara couldn't help but feel disappointed then but Lena compromised to a picnic dinner at the astronomy facility and Kara instantly promised to be in charge of the food, still wanting to make up for her mess the other night, and had even brought in back up.

Ray and Maggie both helped her make and prepare the best picnic basket ever, Alex being highly amused at her sister's attempts at wooing the girl. Kara didn't complain much, she was just glad that Alex was really warming up to Lena.

Any remaining trace of Kara's disappointments soon disappeared when Lena showed her the planetarium that night. The whole place just to the two of them. Lena seemed to be pleasantly surprised with the meal, at first being wary but soon enough the CEO kept trying to get her to confess on how she's made the best packed dinner ever, Kara miraculously resisted her charms… by completely changing the topic to something that Lena was definitely interested in.

Space.

The two of them found themselves laying side by side on a blanket that Kara brought along with her, shoulders barely touching, hands laced together. She pointed out the stars above, forming constellations and talking about them with Lena who seemed to know plenty about earth's constellations too.

But Kara knew more.

About the stars and the galaxies far, far away.

About the faint lights that could barely be seen with the human eye from their nighttime sky.

She let Lena talk before jumping in with what she knew, careful with her words not wanting to tell her just yet that she was Supergirl.

As much as Kara wanted to tell her, it just wasn't the right time.

Not when it could put Lena's life in danger.

Not when Cadmus was still at large.

Not when Lillian Luthor could use her own daughter as a way to hurt her.

Because as she stared in awe of the woman next to her, Kara knew she couldn't, no, she wouldn't.

A life without Lena was something she would never be able to bear.

Lena smiled as she listened to every word that Kara had said, talking about what she knew best. She did visit quite a few planets with her parents before.

True, Kara was a bumbling mess when it came to Lena, she couldn't help it that she leaves her tongue-tied. But like a paradox, she also gave her strength, a kind of confidence that she thought only Supergirl possessed and Kara Danvers didn't. She used her way with words to make it sound like what she knew were all things she's learned from this planet and Lena didn't seem to press for questions despite the curiosity she saw in her eyes.

_Rao, those eyes!_

She told Lena, without _really_ telling her, about the trips she's made when she was younger. Of tales she's heard, the myths and folklores of the planets she's visited.

And Lena hung onto every word she said, especially about a particular hero tasked to kill the woman they loved to bring justice and balance to their _home_ – Kara nearly slipped with 'planet' – but that they decided to end the fighting without any blood being shed.

The night couldn't have been more perfect, really.

Except it actually could because just as when everything finally felt like it was, things started falling apart.

Kara could feel her phone vibrating in her pockets just as Lena heard her phone ringing as well.

"It's Alex." Kara said, sounding apologetic as she sat up and answered. Lena felt for her phone and looked at the messages she received, the look on her face enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

That and Alex's words on the other line.

"Lena." Kara started to say unsure of what excuse to give her. "Um…"

"You're sister needs you?" Lena asked, providing the words for her and Kara nodded. "Go. I know Alex wouldn't have called if it wasn't important. We can always just pick up tomorrow." she said with a smile.

Kara nodded, appreciating her understanding but then remembering that Lena's phone had been ringing and that she undoubtedly knows what was going on. "I can drop you home." Kara then offered.

She wanted to make sure that Lena got home safely and that she was as far away from L-Corp as possible.

"Kara, if I'm not mistaken, I'm the one with a driver." Lena replied with a chuckle. "I'll get home safe, don't worry about me."

Kara nodded again, she knew Lena was stubborn. More than knew really, she's proven it time and time and again. She got up and started to leave before running back to where Lena sat for a quick kiss.

Lena laughed a little and watched as Kara got ready to leave again. "Kara." she called after her. "Be careful yourself, okay? Stay safe."

Kara looked at her curiously before she smiled.

"I will." she replied before wasting no time to get to where Supergirl was needed.

* * *

Sara had to admit, she's had her fair share of fights. Some including speedsters, super soldiers, magic users, even future tech wielding opponents. Heck, she's faced aliens with alien tech.

So really these so-called thugs with the piece of alien tech were all a piece of cake.

If only they stayed down and stopped increasing in numbers, then this would be faster and she could help her friends.

 _What, were they jacked with a strength-providing serum or something?_ she found herself asking the question to herself.

It didn't help that when they first got to the scene of the crime, they were nearly blasted by an incredibly angry man in a purple suit and glowing green hands, which was totally unexpected. He wasn't part of the initial group reported to have pulled up at the plaza.

With Supergirl just outside of National City, the DEO had to be the first responders to the attack at L-Corp. None of her friends would take the ongoing attack sitting down either so whether or not the Martian agreed – he ended up relenting to them – they all rushed to handle the situation, that is, another raid of the L-Corp labs.

They agreed to split up. Ollie had intel from Felicity that the attack was _probably_ – Sara had to admit that she looked more sure than making an educated guess – to steal a similar isotope that could stabilize the currently barely staying together Kryptonite Man.

And maybe a few other items that may prove essential to their plans since Overwatch had good info that they were currently having a financial crisis – being an active anti-alien terrorist group with plenty of inhumane and illegal experiments was proving to be expensive – and L-Corp's Research and Development department was proving to be quite a treasure vault for them.

Green Arrow took Speedy with him to infiltrate the labs and lie in wait for anyone who may make it inside. In the meantime, Alex and Maggie secured a perimeter around L-Corp plaza to ensure that no innocent bystanders got hurt while Heatwave and the Atom helped with dealing with the alien-tech wielding army that Cadmus had sent.

The Flash was currently with Batwoman, Valor, the Green Martian, and the White Martian dealing with the Kryptonite Man somewhere in the lobby, the fights getting louder. The group was doing their best to minimize the damage and get him contained.

But his instability made it even more of a difficult task.

Thankfully, not for long.

Or at least Sara had hoped.

A streak of red and blue had flown right above her, Supergirl was there to help.

She remembered Alex on the phone asking for her sister's help when they were still back at the DEO and her insistent calls afterwards. Alex was going back and forth on whether Kara should stir clear now that Kryptonite Man appeared before finally relenting that they might need Kara's help. Of course Alex was persistent on reminding her not to engage the hostile threat too. "Do you understand me Kara? Don't be foolish. Your job is to help us deal with the humans not the man with hands that could kill you."

Kara seemed to be following her sister's words closely and agreed, dealing with what seemed to be anti-gravity guns that Ray had been in charge of obliterating while the Atom crash landed, his suit's flying abilities affected by the said weapons.

Mick on the other hand decided to stick with dealing with their less advanced weaponry with his heat gun.

Everything was going according to plan.

Until Valor managed to knock Kryptonite Man out of the front doors of the building and his attention was drawn to Supergirl.

And Sara could feel a sick feeling settling in her gut.

Just as she dodged the oncoming attack of a few of the men trying to corner her.

* * *

The plan was to let at least one of the guys get away, preferably without any isotopes or nanochips in stow. That's why Oliver targeted one of them with an arrow loaded with nanites that they could use for tracking him down later. All in the hopes of locating the suspected Cadmus National City lab still active.

However, Oliver wasn't expecting them to ignore the isotopes and nanochips and while they were engaged in a fight, one of the guys slipped into the labs and got something neither Speedy nor himself saw.

The said guy targeted with the nanites.

And since they could only produce one arrow with the said device – Felicity was really banking on his impeccable aim – with the short time they had, they were now rushing to steal back the stolen items.

"Overwatch, where is he, and can you get a confirmation of what he stole?" Oliver huffed as he tied up the guys they caught. Thea was currently stalking the halls of the research wing without any luck.

"Working on it. We're trying to help contain ridiculous situations right now too, you know. Cisco's intercepted a Cadmus broadcast and it's been a tug-of-war of sorts on who's controlling all satellites now too."

"Can't that Oracle chic help you guys?" Oliver heard Thea in his headpiece.

"No, because apparently Gotham is currently having a crisis of its own." Felicity replied as she tapped away. "Movement in the third floor of the research wing. He's going through a vent, and crap!"

"Overwatch, what's happening?" Oliver then asked, rushing up the stairwell to get to the third floor. "We need a guide with the vents, any prints you can send me?"

"Hang on. Sending in a few minutes." Felicity replied. "And Supergirl. Security cams showed that Kryptonite Man spotted Supergirl, and Green Arrow, the Girl of Steel's mouth is bleeding after he punched her. Barry's doing the best to keep him company while Valor and Batwoman help him. Supergirl's down. The Martians were hit from an earlier blast."

Oliver gritted his teeth. This wasn't good. It never is when the invincible starts to crumble.

It sounds like this Kryptonite Man could actually kill her if he tried.

* * *

It was turning out to be quite the little brawl.

"Supergirl, we really need you." Barry found himself saying as he dodged another blast from the Kryptonite Man. He was keeping himself situated between the murder machine and Supergirl just in case he decides to attack again. Supergirl's strength was starting to return a little but every time Kryptonite Man stepped closer, Kara found herself collapsing again.

 _So this is what Kryptonite does to a Kryptonian._ Barry found himself thinking.

"Guys, we need a plan." Barry then said just as J'onn – _Who, side note, was literally freaking amazing!_ Both Barry and Cisco found themselves gaping at him back at the DEO before leaving because his little transformation routine was just too cool – and M'gann were shaking themselves off, the L-Corp symbol in the lobby completely obliterated after Miss Martian got knocked into it.

"Well, Flash, we need to target his core. He's already unstable but the idea is to make him sort of self-destruct. Preferably with Supergirl away when that happens." Batwoman replied, still a little wobbly herself after getting knocked into one of the pillars. "Scracth that, preferably away from anyone alive."

"I can shield Supergirl from the kryptonite in case we fail, but who plans on taking out the trash? I agree with Batwoman. We can't have him explode inside. I was made to assume that's a bad idea." Mon-El then added.

And J'onn was more than happy to take charge of that. "I would gladly handle that."

The group circled Kryptonite Man, Kara temporarily gaining the strength to stand, irises burning with her heat-vision being barely kept at bay. "So what's the plan?" she then asked just as some of the henchmen they dealt with earlier were starting to regain a bit of consciousness, rallying behind Cadmus' current champion.

Kate looked around, batarangs at the ready, "I think Supergirl could blast his core. Flash could you keep a vortex to surround him and keep him trapped in the meantime? It seems to distract him too. We need to time the attack, clearly. Valor can clear the room while J'onn sends him off to space and allow Supergirl to strike with the heat-vision. M'gann and I can deal with the humans. That's all I got."

"I agree with your assessment, but if we're going to move, we need to move now." M'gann replied. Batwoman and Miss Martian wasted no time in gaining the attention of the other thugs while Valor rushed to gather their unconscious opponents and any remaining employee inside to safety.

Barry ran as fast as he could to contain Kryptonite Man while Supergirl waited for the best opportunity to strike.

However, luck was not on their side. Kryptonite Man created a rather big blast that sent them flying everywhere. Kara still somehow managed to hit the core, but only barely.

Barry found himself on the ground for the twelfth time that night, his body aching badly, this time next to Supergirl. J'onn took it upon himself to keep Kryptonite Man busy in the meantime. Barry tried to shake himself up, rushing to check on Kara who currently had a few holes in her suit along with actual radioactive burns. "God, Supergirl. Guys, any brilliant idea that could help us now would be great, she's really hurt." Barry said, talking to Caitlyn, Cisco, and Felicity back in the base.

"Can you run her to Agent Danvers or back at the base, I think now might be your opening." Caitlyn replied. "They said they have a sunbed that could help her Flash."

Barry was just about to take a groaning Kara in his arms to carry her to safety when they both heard a terrified whisper. "Supergirl."

And surely enough, Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp showed up.

"Le- Ms. Luthor. What are you doing here?" Kara muttered through gritted teeth as she urged Barry to let her get up on her own. With J'onn managing to keep Kryptonite Man a good distance away, Kara's burns were starting to heal just a little.

But only just a little.

"That monstrosity is the result of something stolen in my lab, do you honestly think I won't come here to check on my employees when I saw him on the news? Check on you?" Lena replied, leaving Kara speechless for a moment as Lena's eyes started scanning Supergirl's body in horror, seeing her impenetrable skin all red and black and blue. Barry didn't have to think twice to guess that Lena was feeling responsible for this.

Lena nearly reached out to Supergirl, but stopped herself from running her hands over the holes in her suit.

After being partially distracted, they're called back into action by J'onn screaming "Lookout!", with a very angry Kryptonite Man zooming in towards them.

Barry managed to meet him half way, holding him back a little just as Lena pulled out two orbs form her bag and threw it towards his direction.

The orbs let out an explosion of dust – Barry didn't immediately realize they were lead particles – settling down on Kryptonite Man's arms.

Valor had just returned and J'onn was up on his feet again. The lead that was in Lena's little device managed to minimize the kryptonite radiation from Kryptonite Man.

Kara stepped in front of Lena. "I can't believe you're here to save the day, yet again, Ms. Luthor." Barry heard her say. "Save me."

"I do what I can to help." Lena replied.

"But you should really consider to help out in less reckless ways. Some way that doesn't put your life at risk every time." Supergirl replied before jumping into action.

And once again the battle ensued. Close distances still awarded Kryptonite Man the upper hand but Kara was able to fight him blow for blow this time.

Lena kept her distance, by the pillars that Batwoman had been pinned to earlier as the fight went on. Barry running around to keep a vortex going to trap Kryptonite Man in. "Supergirl, I have an idea." he then said remembering one of his special moves.

But again, victory just kept slipping away. Kryptonite Man yelled at the top of his lungs unleashing a beam that threatened to break through the lead particles. Mon-El fell to his knees, suddenly feeling weak and J'onn seeing what was happening rushed him out to safety.

He was having an adverse reaction to something, Barry could tell.

The two had exited just in time for Kryptonite Man to become incredibly unstable, his core not really keeping him intact.

Something was happening.

His rage was building and it was changing him.

He was mutating.

Spikes of Kryptonite started to protrude from his glowing hands, beams hitting random corners of L-Corp's lobby. Barry skidded right in front of Kara before being struck by one of the random glows, Kara barely having any minute to catch him before mustering whatever she had left of her strength to stop a crumbling piece of the pillars near Lena from falling onto the CEO.

It glowed green in all directions and when Barry opened his eyes once more Kryptonite Man was gone.

J'onn rushed back inside the lobby, glasses shattered everywhere, a bit of destruction evident. His eyes went straight to Kara, Barry looking back just as she struggled to stand just having shielded Lena. She looked close to collapsing herself and the worry in the CEO's eyes were quite clear too. J'onn wasted no time in rushing towards Kara to support her and Barry rushed to the CEO's side.

"Take her somewhere safe." J'onn commanded and Barry nodded.

He turned to Lena. "Where should I…" he started to ask, masking his voice and image by vibrating fast.

"You're not taking me home until I know…" Lena started to say and Barry could only guess what she was planning on saying.

He didn't let her finish. Right then Lena needed to reach someplace safe and the only place Barry could think of that wasn't the DEO was her own office.

So that's where Barry went to drop her off, he wanted to get back to Kara as soon as possible.

* * *

A stern lecturing from Alex and three hours under the sunbed later, Kara felt good as new. Debriefing was a pain to go through, Kara still partially distracted by Lena, because of course Lena had to go check on them and put her life at risk again.

And she really needed to set the record straight because she can't let her be that reckless ever again.

Kara took to the skies in record time. She had heard from Kate that Lena was safe in her office and that she made sure of it. Kryptonite Man had gone missing again. Cisco was paying close attention to any spikes in radioactive signatures to trace him down but after a few scattered points in the city had popped up only to disappear and turn up nothing at the end they stopped being hopeful on catching him that night.

Sara, Atom, Green Arrow, Speedy, and even Heatwave took to the streets. Mon-El, meanwhile, was currently being under observation in the med bay, Caitlyn lending a hand to figure out what happened to him. Barry was resting, reaching out to Iris using Kara's device to update him with what happened before taking to the streets when Kara left, lending a hand.

The secret was out now anyways, at least the secret about the Earth-1 heroes, social media going crazy with clips and snapshots that showed them in action.

Kara soon found herself landing with a soft thud outside of Lena's balcony at L-Corp. She had been hoping that Lena would have gone home, that her instinct would be wrong and that she wasn't in her office.

But she was right.

Lena looked a bit shaken, sitting on her couch looking deep in thought, a half empty bottle of wine and wine glass on her coffee table. Nevertheless, she immediately stood up when she saw Sueprgirl and walked towards the center of her office just as Kara wasted no time in making her way towards her.

"Supergirl." Lena said, greeting her with a light smile. "I'm glad to see you're okay. You had me really worried."

" _You_ were worried." Kara replied with a deep sigh. "Le-Ms. Luthor, _I_ was worried." she went on. "You're not hurt are you? You're okay?" Kara asked, stopping herself short of grabbing Lena's arms and checking she wasn't bleeding anywhere or that no bones were broken.

"I'm fine." Lena replied concern clear in her tone. "You were the one bleeding and hurt. You can't put yourself at risk like that. It was good you had back up but you can't, please Supergirl, you can't just jump in front of danger without any regards to your own life. I know you're indestructible, but that _thing_ , that thing hurt you! He's able to hurt you! You should have called for more back up, came up with a better plan before rushing in. At the very least, have a better suit to protect you!"

Kara stared at her confused because she was the one supposed to be giving the lecture. " _He_ was the one who pulled me into battle, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't run." Kara reasoned remembering the very same line of thought Alex had earlier when she was giving her a piece of her mind.

"But choosing to stay and fight him was still reckless. You had friends, you could have depended on them for this." Lena reasoned.

"Don't change the subject, Ms. Luthor, _you_ were reckless yourself. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? What if I couldn't have saved you? You nearly could have died!"

"You could have died yourself!" Lena retorted.

"Ms. Luthor you're not listeni-" Kara started to argue but Lena had cut her.

"Supergirl, I'm quite capable of taking care…"

"Of yourself? Not when you're…"

"And don't forget I still managed to help. I tried to help."

"I appreciate the help but that's also beside the point." Kara replied feeling rather frustrated because she, as Kara Danvers, had asked Lena to go home and stay safe and really, she's very close to just… just… _Ugh!_

Lena was being stubborn and yes, she could have very well have saved the day but at what cost?

At what price?

Because Kara wasn't willing to have Lena pay for her life in exchange of her own.

And she was very much struggling to tell Lena all that she wanted to say, too many thoughts running through her mind.

"What is the point, Supergirl, because from where I stood _I_ nearly lost _you_ …"

" _I_ can't let anything happen to _you_ either! Please, Ms. Luthor, promise me and listen to reason…"

"I'm capable of listening to reason but you need to understand that I can't, I just can't lose yo-" Lena went on, the two of them really just talking over each other.

Truth slipping unknowingly in between their exchanges.

Until Kara couldn't really take it anymore because neither of them are listening, and she just lost her patience. The frustration and desperation she had been feeling was exponentially increasing because she wanted to make Lena understand that she can't let that happen again, put her life at risk for her because she can't take it.

No, Kara won't be able to take it.

So Kara simply grabbed her and crashed her lips onto Lena's, pouring all of her emotions into that kiss. Telling Lena everything she couldn't just say properly.

Because she was overwhelmed.

By what she felt for the girl standing right in front of her, eyes like kryptonite, making her weak in the knees.

And Lena simply melted into the kiss herself.

But it didn't last because the two seemed to have realized that they, as they were, shouldn't really be kissing. Kara pushed herself away from Lena as her mistake dawned upon her, her face all red, hands covering her mouth.

Lena seemed to be mimicking the look on her face at that very moment.

"I… I should go…" Supergirl said as she all but ran out to the balcony to fling herself into the night sky.

Leaving a very confused Lena Luthor behind.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me?!" Kate groaned as she all but slumped down into Lena's couch in full costume mere minutes after she received a distress signal from her friend.

The cause of distress having been a certain Super kissing a certain Luthor when technically they shouldn't really be kissing. "What do I do? She just flew away as soon as it happened. We were, strangely enough, arguing about who was being reckless and who should try to be more careful for one minute and then all of a sudden she was kissing me, and oh God Kate, I can't… I just couldn't resist and kissed her back and…."

"Well first of all, breathe." Batwoman replied. She was in the middle of tracking down Kryptonite Man, not quite giving up the search just yet, and here she was, her plans derailed, all because two people who clearly meant a lot for each other, just won't get things all out in the open.

Stupidly enough, it's all because of the same reason.

Because one worried about the other's safety if said other found out the secret they kept.

Lena was worried that if Kara knew that she was playing double agent she would both be very upset with her and in even greater danger from her mom, because she highly doubted that Kara would sit this down and patiently wait.

And really, what Lena didn't need right now was for Kara Danvers, Catco reporter, to be brazen enough to walk straight into her mother's den and start snooping if she couldn't get near her as Supergirl for various complex reasons such as being abducted again and experimented on. Yep, that much Kate knew.

Lena didn't want Lillian to figure it out, Kara's secret.

Clearly, Kara didn't want to endanger Lena for being with Supergirl either.

Kate sighed. "Just tell her."

"I can't." Lena replied all glassy eyed and concerned. "Not yet. Not until we find their main base, Project 13 and 14 ring any bells? Besides what do I tell her? How do I even start that conversation?"

Kate nodded and pressed her lips. "At least tell her you know she's Supergirl. Take baby steps, ease her into eventually telling the whole truth. I understand the need for secrecy for our operations, less people who knows, less risks for Cadmus to find out. But there's no point in pretending you don't know she's Supergirl anymore. I know you'd rather she tell you herself, Lena, but she cares a lot about you and to Kara, she thinks that she'll be putting a burden on you by telling you."

Lena simply nodded in response. "I'll think about."

"Good." Kate replied as she got ready to leave. "Because that distress signal I gave you is for life or death situations only. Okay?" she added with a chuckle.

Lena simply ignored her.

Kara kissed her, and Kate could tell, it caught Lena completely off guard.

But from what it sounds like, it caught Supergirl off guard too.

So maybe it was time for secrets to be revealed, one at a time.

* * *

"I just… I don't know what to do!" Kara exclaimed, panic in her voice. She was on the helicopter pad on the rooftop of Catco, not knowing where else to go. Barry had caught up to her trying to ask her to calm down and breath as soon as they ran into each other, quite literally. She started speaking, unloading her thoughts and feelings to Barry, because how on earth does she talk to Alex about this? Alex would either find it incredibly amusing or she'll think it was a complete disaster because then it would have been like Kara revealed her secret yet again to another person. Kara kept on rambling until Sara, who noticed their little comical sprint across town, joined them and asked what Supergirl was so freaked out other than nearly dying. "I kissed her! Oh Rao, I kissed her _as Supergirl_!"

"Kissed who?" Sara asked confused.

"I think her girlfriend." Barry replied with a shrug and Kara gave him a look because as much as she'd like to shout it to the whole wide world that Lena was indeed her girlfriend, they haven't exactly talked about that yet.

Sara chuckled. "So, you kissed Lena Luthor? I don't suppose you've told her that you're Supergirl?"

"No." Kara replied with a huff, running her hand through her hair. "I don't even know where to begin. Besides, I'll…"

"Be putting her in danger if she knew?" Sara and Barry chorused, stopping Kara from her constant pacing. She nodded in reply and Sara shook her head and let out a chuckle.

"You should tell her. The two of you are dating, right?" Sara asked.

"Well, um… yeah…" Kara replied, blushing. "But it's complicated too, you know. Her brother is my cousin's archenemy, for one thing. And he doesn't know, I mean no one else really knows much about it. Alex and Maggie does. I think Kate? Winn knows I like her but we haven't brought him up to speed and then there's James… Rao, there's James! And J'onn as my boss doesn't even know either that I'm dating the sister of the most hated criminal mastermind in the world. I think Ms. Grant knows though. But my cousin? Oh boy, he's gonna lose it. And I know, he's okay with giving Lena the benefit of the doubt with him being all distrusting of Luthors but he'll freak out about this. I mean, talk about putting a whole new spin to sleeping with the enemy, you know? Except… um… well… not really with the _sleeping_ part. I mean, we've fallen asleep together, just the sleeping, while watching movies and stuff, but it's not like we've pushed passed anything else, and I…"

"Kara," Sara started, raising a hand up to get her attention, "listen to Barry and breathe." Sara then said highly amused at the relentless ramblings of one very flustered Kara Danvers. "Now, clarify what the problem is here. That you kissed Lena as Supergirl? That she doesn't know? That other people don't know you're dating? Because you know, it's really none of their business. Or is it that you want to get a move on with your relationship and take the next step?"

Kara gaped at Sara initially at a loss for words before whatever came out of her mouth all melded into one incoherent sound that even Barry was half amused and half awkwardly standing to the side as Sara went on. "Because if it's advice on _that_ subject matter, I'd be glad to help. If it's the whole difference in physiology, I'm sure Allen can bridge the gap since he's a meta- and his girlfriend's a human."

"Uh, hang on, don't bring me and my love life into this." Barry all but mumbled.

"No, no, nonononono." Kara replied, shaking her head. "Okay first of all, I don't need another _talk_. I already had a very awkward one with Eliza and then with Kal because apparently it was something he had to learn to control in his training and…. Why are we talking about this?!" Kara kept rambling on before realizing what she was stalking about.

Her face was currently redder than her cape, thoughts of Kal struggling to explain to her that because of their powers they can't just completely _let go_ and having to awkwardly explain what he's learned from the fortress about it when Kara was still younger during one of his visits to Midvale was making this even more painfully embarrassing.

Even for Barry.

Sara was just finding it all amusing, laughing. Just earlier they were all up against a serious enemy and now they were atop Catco plaza talking about her love life.

Talk about a turn around, but then again, Kara supposed, a lot can happen in a day.

"Why are you laughing?" Kara asked sounding both confused and exasperated.

"Look, Kara, I'm not exactly the expert on relationships here but I do know that not keeping secrets is one of the big things to uphold. Do you trust her?"

"With my life." Kara replied.

"And clearly you love her." Sara noted.

"L-love? I mean… no one's ever said anything about…" Kara started to ramble on and Barry chuckled, jumping in.

"Kara, I think what Sara's trying to say is that you have a great deal of a lot of feelings for Lena. And she's cool, were all kinds of amazed by her and we like her too."

"She keeps you on your toes for sure." Sara interjected.

"Thing is, we all go through life at different speeds, relationships included. I don't need the details of your personal relationship with Lena. God, please let's not broach that topic. It feels weird. But I can see how you look at each other. I know that. I have that. And from what I've learned and personal experiences thrown into the mix, Sara's right. You being Supergirl is a big part of your life and I'm sensing that Lena is too. She's your present and future, and you can't be afraid of letting Lena know because it'll put her in danger. Life's too short and you should be able to live it without fear with the person you love. You can't let Cadmus or Kryptonite Man or the Blight get in the way of living your life with her to the fullest because you don't know what the future might just bring." Barry went on.

"Besides, can you really be who you are, _all_ of who you are, with her if you don't tell her?" Sara then added.

Kara took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

They were right.

If she really wanted to be with her, share their lives together… because Kara was sure it was what she wanted.

She couldn't see it any other way.

She had to tell Lena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: Oh Kara… Sorry for making her word vomit at Sara and Barry but I thought that would be her most natural reaction, so…
> 
> Anyways, again, I apologize for less frequent updates, I try to get things up once a week or at least every five days but work gets me busy. Thank you for the continuous support, your comments always put a smile on my face when I read them and, in truth, it always gives me that extra push to stay motivated and write. The crossover mini-arc got a bit longer than planned (since I decided to split some scenes that were supposed to be in only one chapter to give things room to breathe) but it'll all tie back to the main plot with Cadmus. Things are just starting to get interesting.
> 
> Some Easter eggs:
> 
> -Lena's comment on Lex: In season one of Smallville, Lex pulls the same trick with this rich family (I forget their last name, Hardwick I think) that was some sort of competition with Luthor Corp. Anyways, he convinces the daughter to buy Cadmus Labs that used to be a useless subsidiary of Luthor Corp and allows him to buy their family company due to financial losses that they've suffered
> 
> -Thunder Corporation: It's a thing in the comics. Lex owns it under the name Lucius D. Tommytown and uses it as a front for his illegal experiments.
> 
> -Batwoman and Maggie's break-up: Technically Kate breaks up with Maggie because of a custody battle with her daughter (Jamie Sawyer) because her dad won't let her be with Maggie since she's in a relationship with a woman. So to let Maggie see Jamie, she breaks up with her through a letter (it was actually kinda sad because they passed each other by as Kate left and Maggie made her way to the apartment only to find the letter). Anyways, since I'm not sure if they're throwing in Jamie in the show and I kind of don't want to overcomplicate things, I decided to let Kate being Batwoman get in the way of their relationship but keep the method of break up the same.
> 
> -Ted Kord: He's the Blue Beetle before Jaime Reyes and thus a member of the Justice League
> 
> -Kate's comment on Bruce: I think I said this before, they share an uncle (Philip Kane; Martha Wayne's brother). There's a debate on whether original Batwoman, Katherine/Kathy (Webb) Kane, was her aunt since she married Nathan Kane, Martha's other brother... it gets confusing… Also, Bette Kane (Flamebird) is both Kate's and Bruce's cousin.
> 
> -Kryptonite Man: There are 2 versions of him in the comics (hint?) and one of them ended up with like Kryptonite spikes and all… I'm clearly taking liberties in the story
> 
> -Mon-El's lead allergy: This is important. I said it before, in the comics, any kind of exposure is lethal to Daxamites but I'm taking a page from the show and doing my own thing at the same time.
> 
> On that note, I actually like Mon-El, I don't like the romantic plot. He and Kara have this adorable brother/sister vibe and he's decently funny when he's character development isn't being forced into said romantic plot. He's got a potential interesting character arc with finding himself as a hero without Kara needing to push him to be one in every turn, sort figure it out himself, you know? Why can't we have that?
> 
> UPNEXT: A rather musical chapter update (maybe inspired by the idea of a musical crossover with the Flash) and a moment of quiet – and a particularly special kind of moment of quiet – just before things get real crazy… like, seriously… stuff's about to go down…


	19. Hold Back the River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here is chapter 19 featuring a rather musical fic update (because sometimes words aren't enough to convey an emotion)… sort of… there are songs in the background (some are just for fun), some characters sing in the background too, some in the character's heads/in their thoughts. It's something I've done before in other fics, I thought it might be nice to give it a try here, especially since I've been listening to songs that remind me of Supercorp by a whole lot. This chapter is just a moment of quiet in the middle of everything else because we're close to finishing the second third of the fic and yeah, like a lot of things are going to happen and they deserve to have a break okay?!
> 
> I was inspired by the James Bay song 'Hold Back the River' for this update so I thought it was appropriate for it to be the title. Meanwhile, I've also decided to feature the song the title of this fic is based from. It's called 'Saviour' by Alicia Keys. Other songs featured are listed below.
> 
> Comments are always welcomed, and thanks for all the support so far. Enjoy!

_Lonely water, lonely water, won't you let us wander_ _  
_ _Let us hold each other_ _  
_ _Lonely water, lonely water, won't you let us wander_ _  
_ _Let us hold each other_

* * *

Cat was pacing back and forth in her office. The part of her that was regretting her decision on coming back to work, the part that wanted to be on a private island somewhere far, far away from the chaos that was life in National City, was completely being overpowered by the other part that was screaming that right here, right now was where she was supposed to be.

The attack the night before on L-Corp was everywhere. Social media was buzzing with snapshots and videos of Supergirl's initial smack down with Kryptonite Man, the heroes that came to her aid, including the Flash.

Cat took control, of course she would. There was something going on here, something unseen by the ordinary people of National City. For one thing, why is L-Corp constantly being attacked? Was it Lex? Is he doing all of this? Who was pulling all the strings?

Lillian Luthor couldn't be reached. Snapper assigned one of his best reporters to chase after the story, what was the Luthor matriarch doing in the middle of all of these attacks? She wasn't seen anywhere near Lena Luthor. Did she even check in on her daughter?

Tabloid magazines had Lena's pictures on the front covers, having been spotted leaving her office just past midnight after investigations on the attack mellowed down. Lena seemed to be cooperative with the officers who had questions to ask her before being scene with Kate Kane.

Cat had decided against trying to get a quote, however, from Kate. She knew Kara could get it for her if she wanted to, but she knew it would be best if Kara was kept away from this story.

"But Ms. Grant..." Kara had started to protest after being benched on anything L-Corp related until the frenzy on the attack died down.

"Kiera, aren't you dating the CEO?" Cat threw back and Kara looked at her a confused and surprised mumbling mess. Cat simply rolled her eyes after being thrown off by the question. _She couldn't possibly not think I wouldn't know? I've practically been spelling it out for her!_

Cat huffed. " _Kara_ , you're involvement in this matter is clear. You care for Lena, and while I _am_ wary of her because she was raised as a Luthor, I'm not blind not to see what you see in her. It's somewhere there, deep inside, buried underneath all the mud that her brother brought to their family name. Your relationship with her compromises you're ability to write objectively on the matter, whether it's taking a quote from Kate Kane about L-Corp's CEO or interviewing Lena herself. _I'm_ personally handling that matter."

"What matter?" Kara asked.

"Interviewing Lena Luthor." Cat simply replied.

Kara looked a little surprised at Cat again, a flash of worry in her eyes before she gave her a firm nod to agree that what Cat was saying was right and made sense. _But of course it does_. "There is something you can do for me, Kiera." Cat then said, stopping Kara from leaving.

"What is it Ms. Grant? How can I help?" Kara asked, curious and eager to know what she could do.

"Well, considering you seem to be good friends with Mr. Allen and we both know that _I_ know his little secret, I wanted to do a big piece on the heroes that came to National City in Supergirl's aid during this troubling times."

Kara didn't need to be told anything anymore, she was following Cat's train of thoughts. Kara beamed. "I'm on it Ms. Grant. But please, don't make me ask personal questions, I respect their privacy."

Cat simply smirked. "Just get me the draft before sundown, Kiera. Hopefully, I'll be back by then." she said.

"You're leaving? F-for the interview… with Lena…?" Kara asked getting a little bit nervous once again.

And as much as Cat wanted to watch her former assistant crumble and get flustered over and over again, particularly when a certain CEO was brought up in the conversation, if she didn't leave anytime soon, she would be late for her interview with Lena Luthor.

"Time's being wasted, Kiera. Save your visit and concerns for your girlfriend later." she replied and the tone in her voice was enough to send Kara clumsily running out of her office, getting straight to work.

 _This should be very interesting..._ she thought to herself as soon as Kara was out of sight. She stood up and gathered her things. She wanted to pursue the truth and get answers no matter how tough it gets. Cat, after all, doesn't shy away from the hard-hitting questions. And Lena, well, Lena was an impenetrable force raised by the Luthors.

Cat Grant may be the queen of a massive media empire, but experiences with the Luthors in the past suggested that Lena wouldn't crack down under intimidation and pressure.

Not even from the devil.

* * *

"Kara, are you okay?" James asked, sounding genuinely concerned. He was talking with Winn in his office earlier, the two making plans to go grab lunch and go over a few new adjustments that Winn made to his Guardian suit.

Kara marched right out of Cat Grant's office looking like she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about something. Her face was incredibly flushed as she ignored them and headed straight to her own corner office.

"Ah, earth to Kara Danvers?" Winn then asked, looking at James. He nodded in response, suddenly agreeing to Winn's unspoken question of whether or not they should check on Kara.

"Kara!" the two of them chorused as they stepped inside and closed the door after them. Kara looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she spun around in time to catch the two of them already in her office.

"Kara, are you okay?" James asked. "You look incredibly flustered, plus you didn't hear the two of us back there."

"Hm? Y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Perfect. Peachy." Kara stammered.

Winn leaned closer to James. "Definitely not fine, no one's fine and says they're peachy."

"I heard that!" Kara interjected before James could even reply.

James chuckled. "Well then, care to explain what's going on? What did Cat say? We saw you leaving her office."

"Well, she wants me to write an article on the heroes who showed up and helped Supergirl last night." Kara replied as she took a breath to calm herself.

James looked at her proudly, walking towards her for a hug. "Kara, that's great! That sounds like a big story. I mean, granted she knew Barry was the Flash and that you knew Barry, so that's easy connections right there, but I don't think Cat would have handed you a story detailing the new heroes when she wouldn't even let anyone in the meeting this morning to name or 'brand' them." he said but when Kara didn't look like she was in a celebratory mood, James stepped back. "There's a 'but' in there somewhere, isn't there?"

Kara sighed. "Not really a 'but'." she replied and shook her head looking uncertainly at James and at Winn before moving behind her desk and slumping down her chair. Her hands immediately made its way to cover her face and James was immediately worried about what Kara might say next.

 _Did Cat figure out she was Supergirl… again?_ James asked himself before he heard Kara speak out.

"She's interviewing Lena." she sighed before she started rambling again, at a loss for words. "Like she's literally headed there right now. I wish I could go see Lena and check on her now too, but… well… it's just… it's…"

"Okay." James started to say, his voice calm. He knew Kara and Lena were friends, he knew that Kara was very much _protective_ of Lena, and he knew the obvious fact that L-Corp was the place attacked last night and that Cat would very much like to get a quote from the elusive CEO since that morning.

Lena had effectively dodged all other reporters that morning, and that was saying something, especially with all the media frenzy outside L-Corp.

"I heard that Lena and Cat had a bit of an exchange the last time she came to see you. Are you worried about that?"

"Well, yes. Partially." Kara replied, worrying her lips.

"I think Lena Luthor can handle herself with Cat Grant." Winn then replied knowingly and reassuringly. "I mean I know Cat's scary, but Lena…" he added, still sounding quite impressed by the CEO.

"N-no, I know that. It's… well… just something Ms. Grant said… reminded me about something."

Winn took a deep breath, "Um, is it… you know… that thing we talked about before? At the Wayne Foundation charity ball? Did it remind you of _that_?" he asked sounding unsure.

" _That_?" James asked wanting to know what ' _that_ ' meant.

"Uh, yeah… about _that…"_ Kara started to say unsure of how to start the topic. She stood up, looking at her hands as she played with the hems of her cardigan. She looked like she was about to just give peeling off the band aid ago with whatever it was that's got her so shaken. "I like Lena."

"I mean, I get that Kara. You're friends." James replied, unsure where this was going.

"No, I mean…" Kara started to say, sounding incredibly nervous. "I _like_ her, _like_ her." she emphasized.

" _Like_ her in the way that's turned Kara into a mumbling mess pretty much whenever Lena even so breathes in her direction." Winn teased.

"Oh." James replied, things starting to make sense. The way Kara would defend her, how she's very protective of her, how she wanted all of them to get along with her during Thanksgiving, or how she would beam with pride whenever Lena's brilliance was brought up. Kara blushing, doing _a lot_ of flybys at L-Corp to check on her also made so much sense now. "Kara, I mean, it is more than okay if you feel that way for her." he started to say, unsure how to process everything.

It's not that James was upset that Kara essentially threw him over for a girl. No, that wasn't it.

What's gotten James all so silent all of a sudden was the realization that Kara was quite clearly falling in love with a Luthor, and that's gotten him to feel protective of her at that moment.

"Now why do I have a feeling there's a 'but' in there?" Kara asked.

"Kara, she's…"

"Don't say Luthor. I'm tired of hearing that." Kara immediately replied, cutting James short.

James took a deep breath. They've been over this, sort of, and he did promise Kara that he'll try, and he was trying, to see past the last name that Lena carried. "Okay, you're right." James then said and Kara nodded. "So, what's the problem? Because, I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna take it well if you say she doesn't like you that way or that she's already turned you down."

"Oh, um… well… I…" Kara started to stammer before she stopped herself. She took another calming breath and looked up to see both Winn and James waiting for her to say something. "I kissed Lena."

"No way. When did this happen? Why do I not know about this?" Winn asked.

"Remember at the charity ball when I pretty much made a fool of myself?" Kara asked and Winn gasped at her.

"That long?!" he exclaimed. "You couldn't have told me then? That you kissed her during the party."

"Hey man, I mean I'm only hearing this now, so maybe Kara wasn't ready to tell us?" James provided as an answer and Winn nodded, agreeing with James with what he had to say. "Do you need help asking her out? Help in telling Alex?" he asked, wanting to be as supportive as he can.

More than anything, more than the jealousy that he was very much feeling and suppressing at the moment, he was Kara's friend. One of her best friends, in fact.

And with Kara being there for him too, especially when she found out that he was Guardian – despite the brief rough start – he more than wanted to be there for Kara in figuring things out with Lena.

Luthor or not.

"I'm sorry for keeping this from you guys, it's just, well, _a lot_ to process." Kara replied with all honesty before reaching up to adjust her glasses. "But yeah, technically she kissed me during the party and I kissed her a few days before that. Alex also already knows, but thanks for the offer. And definitely no need for help on _that_." she clarified before changing the topic to get to what the problem was. "We're sort of dating and well…" Kara started to waver and all of a sudden James realized what the root of the problem was.

"She doesn't know you're Supergirl." he said and Kara nodded.

"Are you afraid that she might freak out or not be fond of that idea…? Or you know, something like that?" Winn then asked. "Wait, I though you said that the problem was that you kissed… Oh, oh God!" he went on until Winn came to a realization of his own.

James turned to find a very flustered Winn. "You kissed her _as Supergirl!_ Kara, what were you thinking? Also, why did you tell me? Does Alex know, because if she doesn't then I can't show my face in front of her because then I know and I can't lie to Alex! Don't make me lie or hide anything to Alex."

"Don't worry I'm planning to talk to her soon." Kara grumbled. "But it's just, I might've ran away after kissing her as Supergirl and I haven't seen her as, well, me. And Cat was going on and on about how we're dating and she's… you know… she's my… g-girlfriend… which we haven't talked about and I just…. Well, she needs me, as in me Kara Danvers, and…"

James smiled and shook his head. She was rambling again. He walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You know Kara, if you're sure of how you feel for her and how she feels for you, you should tell her. If memory serves me right, Clark struggled to tell Lois too, and in the end Lois apparently already figured it out, she was just waiting for him to tell her. I don't know if that's the case too, I mean Lena _is_ brilliant and all, but if she does and she's just waiting for you, then she's definitely getting my vote. She's respecting your space. But if she doesn't, tell her. Keeping secrets and relationships, they don't go hand in hand."

Kara nodded. "I know, I just… I don't know. I'm scared James. I'm scared of how things might turn out."

"You shouldn't Kara." Winn replied before James could say anything, walking close to show his support. "I mean, be scared of Alex or J'onn, but Lena? I've seen how she looks at you."

"Yeah, and Kal?" Kara then asked.

 _Oh crap_. James thought, realizing the entirety of Kara's anxieties.

James sighed. "You've got me to help you out there. You deserve to be happy Kara, and even if he takes it the wrong way I know Clark would come around to see that eventually."

Kara nodded and gave both him and Winn a hug before she got back to work.

James looked quite thoughtful as he went into the elevator with Winn. He let out a deep sigh catching Winn's attention. "What's up?" he heard him ask.

James shook his head and chuckled. "I can't believe I thought you were my competition. I guess in the end the best _one_ still won Kara's heart, just not us."

"So I take it you're coming around your initial dislike of Lena?"

"I'm still wary, Winn, I don't want her to play with Kara's heart." James replied truthfully. "But, I'm not blind, I saw how they were during Thanksgiving, I guess I just didn't want to see what they had past their friendship. I think they're good for each other." he admitted, somewhat feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder.

Really, all he was worrying now was how his other Super best friend would take this.

Especially with all that he's endured at the hands of Lena's brother.

* * *

All things considered, Alex wasn't exactly expecting the night following a major attack at L-Corp to be spent the way it was currently being celebrated.

Things had been hectic at the DEO to say the least. The paperwork was a pain, then there's the fact that Kryptonite Man escaped for the umpteenth time and they couldn't find him.

The fact that Kara got hurt fighting him and the fact that Alex couldn't even dare to think what could have happened if it was just Kara alone facing him.

If they didn't have the help they were given.

Not to mention the fact that the Green Arrow wasn't able to catch one of the men Cadmus had hired to steal whatever it was that they needed from L-Corp. Alex swung by Lena's office earlier that day, Kara refusing to drop by as Supergirl for some odd reason that Alex was still trying to figure out. Lena said they've been running an inventory but none of their experimental isotopes were missing, none of the similar nanochips they stole were either.

Oliver had barely any wink of sleep after that. He brought his sister along to track down the location of the thief when the nanites were activated, only to find him dead upon their arrival underneath an overpass. The stolen items gone from his possession. The Green Arrow doubled down his efforts, but they weren't able to find much of anything else.

Then of course, the icing on the cake was the fact that they received a message from Oracle early that afternoon.

They spotted a few stealth ships heading towards earth.

The Blight, they were coming.

"How long do we have?"" Alex had asked.

"By Oracle's estimations, four days at most." Winn answered.

"At the very least?" Alex pressed.

"Two."

Alex simply took in the news wrapping her head around the idea that in the minimum of two days they would be up against an alien invasion. The Earth-1 heroes reassured Alex that everything would be alright. Superman's friends too. J'onn had been in contact with Superman, who was in some space station somewhere, to help coordinate plans and battle tactics. The DEO had bases everywhere, and Alex meant _everywhere_. The Earth-1 heroes were with them in National City while Batman had his group of vigilantes scattered worldwide.

There is the League as well, something that Alex heard Kate and J'onn talk about between the two of them.

The rest of the day was spent helping Oracle triangulate the major areas that would be affected, the places where the heroes would find the majority of the attacking force.

Coast City seemed to be in the trajectory of the Blight's main forces, Metropolis too.

And so was National City.

Alex was pretty much just tense for the rest of the day.

"Overthinking isn't going to help, Agent Danvers." Sara said as she ran into her on her way out of the training room. "Sorry, you look tense. Besides, you have the same crinkle in your forehead as Kara when she's overthinking or worried about something."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I'm a bit tense. We're going to be up against an alien invasion."

"Mhmm." Sara replied, pressing her lips together and looking thoughtful. "I have an idea." she then said.

And with all honesty, Alex thought she would suggest that they go train or prepare some more.

Because really, the past few weeks had been spent with preparing for the upcoming fight for earth.

So Alex was half pleasantly surprised and half confused to find herself at their favorite alien dive bar on karaoke night of all nights, Sara's grand master plan being that they take the night off.

"You're welcome." Sara had then said once everyone was settled, drink in hand.

"You're not worried that the invasion happens faster, that everyone miscalculated, or that Kryptonite Man will attack again anytime between now and said attack?" Alex asked still heavily concerned.

"If they do, we'll be ready. But if we're going to spend our life waiting for the end and forgetting to live, we won't be able to do much of anything." Ray had said, joining the two of them by the bar. "We've been in so many near death situations that really, living whenever we can is important."

"You know, Allen said something along those lines to your sister last night." Sara then noted before turning her attention to Mick who was having a little too much fun with his new found otherworldly friends.

 _All you have is your fire_ _  
_ _And the place you need to reach_ _  
_ _Don't you ever tame your demons_ _  
_ _But always keep them on a leash_

Some random alien guy with flaming red hair sang, "Oh I'm definitely loving this place." Mick had commented a little too loudly as he broke the bottle he was drinking and headed to the karaoke machine.

Sara shook her head. "Is he going to sing?" Alex asked confused and Sara simply chuckled back.

"I hope not. But I think I better check on him." she commented as she excused herself and made her way to Mick.

"So Alex, is Detective Sawyer joining us?" Ray asked once they were left alone.

Alex looked thoughtful for a minute or two, her eyes caught James joining the party and immediately heading to a table with Winn, Caitlyn, and Cisco. She looked around the dive bar and watched her friends settle in. They were all there, except for Mon-El who was still on strict bed rest and Maggie who was still at work. Oliver was next to Kate on one end of the bar, the two becoming drinking buddies and both looking rather serious despite the festivities before Kate seemed to have said something that made Oliver chuckle. Barry was currently entertaining Thea by one of the booths, the two chatting away with Kara who still looked more like a nervous wreck than anything despite wanting to relax and take a break.

All day long, Alex noted, that Kara was feeling a little off. Kara looked up and saw Alex looking at her, she smiled tentatively before looking around for a quiet corner inside. Alex nodded towards one of the pool tables and turned to Ray. "I'm not sure." she replied. "But I think my sister needs me, so I hope you mind if I…" Alex said, excusing herself and grabbing her beer before heading towards Kara.

"Are you challenging me to a game of pool?" Kara asked rather awkwardly.

"Kara, you don't even play pool." Alex replied matter-of-factly. "It would be like stealing candy from a baby if I challenged you. How about you tell me what's on your mind? And have you seen Lena? I saw her earlier when I dropped by L-Corp since you refuse to do just that. She's been on top of things, as always, already have contractors looking at fixing the damage the fight caused, but she was acting as odd and fidgety as you. Is something going on? Did you guys have a fight that I don't know about?" she asked, genuinely concerned for her sister.

Kara took a deep breath and essentially just laid it all out for Alex, trying her best not to speak too loudly, talking a little in code. She didn't want to bring up Lena's name in an alien dive bar, Alex could tell, potentially worried about if anyone overheard what she was saying. Kara also didn't want bring up Supergirl.

So Alex got the weird and convoluted vagueness that was Kara's explanation. "It's just, you know, I have a secret and I don't like keeping this from her anymore, Alex. Especially with everything that's been happening. She keeps running into danger when she shouldn't and I'm already all but torn with what to do. Should I tell her to convince her to stop being reckless or would she put herself more in danger? How would she even react?" she said. "And wow, didn't know Caitlyn can sing." Kara then added, noting Dr. Snow's performance behind them.

 _Loving hard_  
_Is my tendency_  
_And I'm hoping that_  
_You are the one who is willing to_

 _Just save me  
When I'm empty_ _  
__I need a someone_ _  
__To fill me_ _  
__Will you be my savior?_ _  
__Rescue me_ _  
__Cause when I'm out saving you_ _  
__Baby who's saving me?_ _  
_  
Alex gave a nod to acknowledge what Kara had said before turning her attention back to her sister. "Let me get this straight, you want to tell _her_ that you're… well… _you_?" Alex asked and Kara bit her lips and nodded.

Alex took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. "Kara…"

"You're going to say this is a bad idea, aren't you?" Kara.

"Kara, it's not that it's a bad idea but we're in the middle of…"

"A crisis? We're in a middle of a lot of things?" Kara asked, finishing Alex's train of thoughts. "Alex, I don't know what to do. I want…" she went on, struggling to find the words that would fully encompass what it was that she wanted to say.

And Alex could only feel and empathize with her sister. She knew she liked Lena, hell, she could see Kara was falling hard and fast for the CEO. Alex was all but torn really, torn between the supportive sister and the protective sister. She knew that keeping secrets between them would make their budding relationship suffer. But… Camdus… reasons…

She really didn't know what to tell her, what to say.

And Alex found herself struggling for words too. Because she wanted to give Kara the same support she's given her, continue the support she's been given her with the start of her relationship with Lena. If Alex was being honest to herself, she liked Lena. She was smart, she was confident when needed to be, commanding the room with her presence, but she could be soft too. Soft spoken and gentle with her ways, just like how she was during Thanksgiving. She wasn't there to intimidate, she honestly looked a little lost, sticking to Kara's side as much as she could. Somehow Alex got the chance to know her better that way, through her actions, her body language.

But more than that, she could see how genuine her feelings were for her sister.

Still, there was that feeling gnawing at her. The hint of sadness in Lena's eyes when she looks at Kara, some unspoken burden that has Alex on defense.

That has her going back and forth on whether or not Kara should tell her secret to Lena.

That Supergirl reveal herself to a Luthor.

Alex tried to reform the words but still nothing would come out. She was saved by the moment when Barry took on the stage and started singing, temporarily distracting both her and Kara.

 _Tried to keep you close to me_  
_But life got in between_  
_Tried to square not being there_  
_But think that I should have been_

But should Kara tell her?

Should she really?

Couldn't this wait until they've dealt with Cadmus? With the Blight?

When the impending doom hanging over their heads disappear?

But what if it doesn't? What if it never ends? What if they need to keep fighting even after all of that?

 _I'm and idiot._ Alex thought to herself, finally understanding what Maggie was trying to tell her, why Sara thought it would be a brilliant idea to unwind and let out some steam that night before they go off to another battle, to what essentially was a war between the invading forces and earth's heroes.

Life's too short not to live, not to embrace and seize the quiet moments we are given.

Life's too short to not just be, to not be happy.

Alex sighed. "What made you want to tell her anyways?" she asked, sounding defeated.

"I, um, sort of kissed her."

"Kara, I thought we've established that." Alex said with a chuckle, amused at the thought of how Kara was still getting all flustered by kissing her girlfriend.

Kara smiled nervously at Alex. "No, no, I know we have. What I meant was, well, I kissed her when I shouldn't have."

Alex looked at Kara confused by what she could possibly mean until it hit her.

Kara kissed her as Supergirl.

"Kara…." Alex drawled out slowly, trying to read what was going on in her sister's head, if what she was thinking was true.

Judging from Kara's incredibly red face, she figured it was.

"When?" Alex asked.

"Last night. I was just, I was really worried about her."

"Yeah, I could tell. You were distracted since we got you back to the DEO. Not to mention you wanted to skip the sunbed." Alex noted with a huff. "Do you want to tell her because you want her to know or because you made a mistake?" she then asked, because to Alex there was a difference.

"I want her to know Alex." Kara said softly with a determined look in her eyes. "I just don't know how. I'm scared of telling her Alex, I'm scared because I don't know how she's going to take it. I mean I know that she cares for, you know, other me I suppose, but there's just… there's so much history between our families, so much going on now, and I don't know how it's going to affect _us_. I wish things were different, you know? Life much simpler. Then maybe I don't have to hide anything to her, maybe it would be easier to tell her. I trust her Alex, I'm just scared of losing her because I'm…"

Alex nodded and pulled Kara into a hug.

She knew what Kara meant.

She could lose Lena in more ways than one just for being Supergirl.

But they can't stop time, they can't force it to freeze and not move forward.

They can't stay in a standstill, even if that's all that they want to.

And if Kara doesn't tell her, then what kind of future would she and Lena have? What would the tomorrow they're fighting for look like?

So much was happening around them, the future a distant dream, the past all but beautiful memories, that if they don't start making the most of what they have _now_ then it would all disappear and regret is all that they'll have.

If they keep waiting for 'someday', they could wait until forever and it may never come.

And time already felt like running out that it would be a waste not to live out our stories to the fullest, not to spend the time that we're given with the people who matter, and not be who we are around them.

 _Once upon a different life_  
_We rode our bikes into the sky_  
_But now we call against the tide_  
_Those distant days are flashing by_

"I'll take care of J'onn." Alex mumbled as she let go of Kara. Funny how it felt like she was setting her sister free to do what she felt like she must. "And the paper works."

"Y-you think I should tell her?" Kara asked.

"Yes, is that what you want?" Alex replied.

"Yes, but how Alex?" Kara answered, still desperately looking at Alex for help.

Alex let out a chuckle. "Kara, you would know better than I do on how to tell her." she replied just a she pulled out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked curiously.

"Making the most of life." Alex replied as she typed away a message for Maggie on her phone. "Now, little sis, I did say I'll help you with J'onn and deal with the inevitable paperwork at the DEO when you do tell your girlfriend, can you help me out with something?" Alex asked.

 _Hold back the river, let me look in your eyes_  
_Hold back the river, so I_  
_Can stop for a minute and see where you hide_  
_Hold back the river, hold back_

"Anything." Kara had replied.

And Alex smiled.

She wanted to do something simple but special for Maggie, and she just recruited the most hopelessly romantic person she knew.

* * *

Everyone looked like they were having fun, even Alex seemed to have found a different tune from her mood of the past weeks. Kara helped Alex with her little idea before her sister left her, leaving Kara to her thoughts once more.

She figured she needed to do a bit of thinking herself on how she should approach the subject.

Except all Kara had been doing was think and think and it's been driving her insane already.

She hasn't seen Lena all day, and that was all that she really wanted to do, but then kissing her as Supergirl pops back into her head and the problem of how to tell her, because she can't just very well rip the band aid off.

This was Lena she was telling her secret to. Lena who she wanted to tell _everything_ to.

But where to start?

She was saved by the fact that Cat kept her busy with work. She did check in quite a few times on her, still having her weak excuse of Alex needing her for something, a sort of emergency. They kept on texting each other throughout the day, Lena noting that Alex dropped by and so did Cat, while Kara said she's been kept busy with a few things including an article that Cat asked her to do, a big new story exclusive by Catco with the new heroes that showed up.

Both of them seemed to be actively avoiding the topic of the kiss. Kara mostly because she wasn't supposed to know anything about it, and Lena, well, she wasn't sure why Lena hasn't brought it up. A part of her was hopeful that Lena simply brushed it off as some mistake, this despite Kara knowing only too well that Lena had kissed her back as Supergirl. The other part wasn't too sure.

The other part was confused and partially jealous of herself, _which doesn't make any sense at all, Kara. You need to get out of your own head._

But she couldn't, she found herself trapped in there.

Overthinking, overanalyzing.

 _Pulling me further_  
_Further than I've been before_  
_Making me stronger_  
_Shaking me right to the core, oh_  
_I don't know what's in the stars_

"So how's the article?" Thea asked as she joined Kara in her lonely little booth. Somehow Caitlyn and Barry managed to convince Cisco to sing and he was totally owning the stage at the moment. They were soon joined by Barry and Caitlyn with drinks at hand.

"Good." Kara replied with all honesty. "I still need to thank you guys for it. Cat loved the draft, although she wanted to make a few edits with it, make it a broader topic and examine how the new heroes affect National City and stuff."

 _Never heard it from above, the world isn't ours_  
_But I know what's in my heart_  
_If you ain't mine I'll be torn apart_

"And how's her article on Lena? Winn might've mentioned something about it earlier, he said you were nervous about it." Barry asked.

Kara bit her lip. "Well, I most definitely did not have the chance to read it but she said something along the lines of 'I knew how to pick 'em'." she answered, remembering Cat's rather pleasant mood upon her return from L-Corp.

"Have you seen her yet?" Sara asked, sounding concerned as she joined them. "Please tell me you've talked to her." she added upon noticing Kara's tentative smile. "Kara!"

"Hey, everyone seems to be gathering here so hope you all don't mind us joining." Winn then said, asking Barry to scoot over as he and James joined them.

"Talked to who about what?" Felicity then asked as she walked over to them.

"Kara here kissed her _girlfriend_ when she was all suited up." Sara explained, staring down Kara just as she tried to stop her from spilling the beans.

Instead Sara realized just how quite effective Sara's stares were at shutting people up.

Of course Ray just walked over to join them after that and everyone started clamoring over Kara's little problem that shouldn't really be a problem.

 _Hang on, they're not even freaking out that Lena's my girlfriend… I mean, I'm dating Lena_. Kara though to herself, slightly confused as everyone simply took the information in stride.

Well, Barry, Sara, and Thea knew because they walked in on their date. Winn and James knew because she just told them.

But Caitlyn, Ray, and Felicity?

"We kind of figured it out on our own when she was all but ready to threaten Mick and Sara for calling you nicknames." Caitlyn leaned in and whispered as everyone else simply just took over the conversation.

 _Something inside us_  
_Knows there's nothing guaranteed, yeah_  
_Girl, I don't need you_  
_To tell me that you'll never leave, no_  
_When we've done all that we could_  
_To turn darkness into light, turn evil to good_  
_Even when we try so hard_  
_For that perfect kind of love, it could all fall apart_

Surprisingly everyone wanted to help. James provided insight on why Kara was feeling all kinds of torn about it, the whole Superman and Lex aspect of things really.

"So I suppose we have our own star-crossed lovers here." Thea commented with a chuckle that sent Kara blushing.

She hasn't really thought about that.

"It's just hard, you guys. I don't know. I don't know where to start or how to start. When I told Winn, it was just that I was really excited, you know. He's my best friend and I wanted to share it with someone. Share finally embracing who I am. James knew because he knew form the start because of my cousin. Alex knew, because duh, she's my sister. I bent over backwards to try and convince Ms. Grant that I am not, you know, National City's beloved hero, when she started piecing things together, and well, Lucy, James' ex-girlfriend, out of necessity. We needed her help. Barry found out because of accidentally saving me when I didn't need saving." Kara then said.

Because it was the truth.

People who found she was Supergirl sort of just found because of necessity and circumstance. Really, the only person she's told about it because she wanted to tell that person was Winn.

And now Lena.

Lena who Kara wanted to have more days together, build a future with. Something she never thought she could even have with anyone.

But now, now Kara knew that she was undoubtedly falling more and more each day with her.

Ray nodded. "I sort of get that. You don't want to put people you love in danger just because of your double life."

"But you might end up missing the best things in life just because you're afraid to take that leap." Sara added. "We've lost people we cared about Kara, it wasn't easy. What if tomorrow you never get the chance to tell her? If it's important, if you need to tell her, then do it. Before it's too late."

"Sara's right. It's your secret to tell Kara but if right now all you want is to go see her but you can't because of what's happening with your double life then… you know…" Caitlyn then added with a shrug.

"Things don't really need to be complicated. Honestly, we're all just complicating it." Felicity then said knowingly and everyone turned to her with a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" Winn asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"I-I, um, well, I mean…" Felicity started before clearing her throat and recomposing herself. "I think it's real simple. We're all just overthinking things because we think that everything else in the world matters. But at the end of the day, Kara, it's your relationship. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters are you and Lena. You feel strongly for her, it's pretty obvious she feels the same way. It doesn't matter if you're an alien or not. I don't think she cares about that anymore. I think she cares about _you_."

_Oh I don't know how the years will go down, it's alright  
Let's make the most of every moment tonight_

Kara nodded realizing what Felicity meant.

 _I don't know who's gonna kiss you when I'm gone_  
_So I'm gonna love you now, like it's all I have_  
_I know it'll kill me when it's over_  
_I don't wanna think about it, I want you to love me now_

"So, any ideas on how to tell her? Should I do that during a date or something? Go over to her place or office and talk about it? Where do we stand on flowers?"

"In my experience, flowers could be over the top." Barry then admitted with a chuckle.

"You know, planning a date to tell her might actually be a bad idea too." James then said "Your cousin did that a few times because he wanted everything to be perfect only to cancel the date with Lois because duty called."

"Hey guys, did you see me rock the stage or what?" Cisco then said eagerly joining them. "What's going on?" he then asked.

And everyone brought him up to speed.

Two songs later, Mick oddly enough joining Oliver and Kate by the bar – to which, really, Kara was just thankful that they had their own thing going for now because she wouldn't know how to deal with Kate teasing her about it, despite her probably already knowing that Supergirl kissed Lena – and about half a dozen of incredibly romantic but incredibly over the top ideas later, they still had no plan.

 _If I give up on you, I give up on me_  
_If we fight what's true, will we ever be?_  
_Even God himself and the faith I knew_  
_It shouldn't hold me back, shouldn't keep me from you_

"What's gotten everyone so down?" Mon-El asked, walking over to join their table just as some other guy took the stage to sing.

"Mon-El!" everyone exclaimed.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Winn then asked.

Mon-El simply flashed them with a boyish grin. "You really thought I wouldn't sneak out? I was bored and I'm feeling better now. That serum thingy that Caitlyn gave me made me feel all better. Thank you, by the way." he said before addressing Caitlyn.

"No problem." she replied with a smile.

"So what's happening?" Mon-El asked again.

 _I can feel the blood rushing though my veins_  
_When I hear your voice, driving me insane_  
_Hour after hour, day after day_  
_Every lonely night that I sit and pray_

"I wanted to tell someone really important to me about my secret. We had a long debate on why I should and shouldn't, and how I should do it." Kara replied.

"Is this about that CEO? The one who keeps trying to save you when you're saving her?" Mon-El asked and Kara nodded, looking surprise that eh actually pays attention to things. "Why don't you just go and tell her? Why do you need a plan? If it's important to tell her, just tell her. She seems important to you, and you to her. Really, I don't get why it's a secret."

"You don't understand…" Kara started to argue.

"It's not that easy? You want to make it special?" Mon-El asked. "What is it with you humans and Kryptonians? Look, I think what's special is you telling her, trusting her with your secret and being completely honest with her. Form what I hear, people don't like the Luthors, what with one of them trying to kill your cousin and all. A Super trusting a Luthor, do you know how much that would mean to… what's her name again?"

"Lena." Thea interjected.

"Lena, right. I'm guessing it would mean the world to Lena. So I don't think the delivery matters much more than the message." Mon-El concluded and Kara stared at him blankly, partially amazed really that he said something that made absolute sense.

Of anyone she was expecting help from, Mon-El wasn't the one she was expecting to give the winning answer.

Kara nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment.

 _Tease me by holding out your hand_  
_Then leave me or take me as I am_  
_And live our lives stigmatized, oh, yeah_

Kara awkwardly tumbled out of the booth, excusing herself from her friends, an idea forming at the back f her mind.

She found her way out of the dive bar. Kara checked that no one was around and soon she found herself in the company of the clouds and stars above.

She took to the skies with a clear mind and called Lena.

* * *

Maggie didn't really know what to expect when Alex texted her to meet in her apartment after she got off from work. From what she knew when she dropped by the DEO around lunch time, everyone was still working overtime to chase after any remaining leads they have regarding the recent L-Corp attack.

Alex looked incredibly stressed but Maggie was happy to see her starting ease up a bit. Actually deciding to take a short break for the two of them to have a proper meal.

So when Maggie knocked on Alex's door and Alex all but barely opened the door to slide right out with an innocent-looking smile, Maggie was suspicious.

"Please tell me there's no dead body in there that we need to get rid of." Maggie said with an uncertain smile as she tried to figure out what was going on inside of her girlfriend's head.

Alex simply looked at her, she quirked an eyebrow at Maggie and asked. "Do you really think I'll need help?"

"No, but what's with the secrecy?" Maggie asked looking incredibly confused and waving behind Alex towards her apartment door.

"Just trust me." Alex hummed producing a handkerchief behind her and walking around Maggie.

"Kind of hard when you're blindfolding me." Maggie pointed out just as she felt Alex tighten the knot of her blindfold. Maggie felt Alex's hand find hers as she guided their way past the doorway and inside Alex's apartment.

"Just, stay there for a while okay, no peeking." she heard Alex say just as she felt her absence from her side.

And then, of all things, music started playing. Once again, Alex was right next to her, taking off the blindfolds to reveal her apartment. The lights turned off, quite possibly a few hundred candles all around.

Maggie couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle.

Alex offered her hand and Maggie couldn't help but beam up at her, accepting her offer to dance.

 _From the way you smile to the way you look_  
_You capture me unlike no other_  
_From the first hello, yeah, that's all it took_  
_And suddenly we had each other_

"Okay, who are you and what did you do to my girlfriend?" Maggie asked as they swayed to the beat of the music. "You know, the one that had a punk rock phase, hates romantic comedies, a person of my own heart truth be told, 'cause I could never stand the mushy stuff." she said with the brightest smiles on her face.

"Shut up, you're loving this." Alex replied and Maggie made no effort whatsoever to counter her argument, because yes, she was indeed loving the moment.

Although that doesn't answer what's going on with her girlfriend.

 _And I won't leave you_  
_Always be true_  
_One plus one, two for life_  
_Over and over again_

"Okay, but what possessed you to transform your apartment into romance capital? I highly doubt you know the song too. Kara helped you?"

"Fine, you got me there." Alex admitted. "But I've been thinking, about you know, what you said the other night. I don't want to miss a moment with you just because of everything happening around us. Because of the threats we face. I don't want that. I don't want to regret anything or miss anything. I want you, Maggie. I want to be with you."

 _So, don't ever think I need more_  
_I've got the one to live for_  
_No one else will do, and I'm telling you_  
_Just put your heart in my hands_  
_Promise it won't get broken_  
_We'll never forget this moment_  
_Yeah, we'll stay brand-new 'cause I'll love you_  
_Over and over again_  
_Over and over again_

Maggie couldn't help but smiling.

Yes, this definitely not was not what she was expecting.

But Maggie was nevertheless glad. Maybe slightly overwhelmed.

"Who knew tough Agent Danvers would be such a mushy nerd? _My_ extra mushy Alex." she managed to say.

Alex couldn't help but let out a giggle. "This," she started to say, "This is all your fault. You did this too me."

Maggie laughed in response. "Well, I love it." she replied, placing a chaste kiss on Alex's lips. "I love you."

Alex leaned in closer and placed her head against Maggie's. "I love you too."

* * *

Lena's morning schedule had been tossed into utter disarray. It was on days like this she was thankful that she had a capable assistant like Jess. It barely took the first half hour of the workday to get everything sorted, have the contractors already on their job and fixing the damages left behind by the fight, and organize a group to figure out what was stolen from her labs. Lena knew she could just pick up her phone and dial in her mother, get some answers, but something told her she won't get anything from the woman other than vague non-explanations.

If she wanted answers, she knew it should be Westfield that she asked.

But Westfield was one of those people who you don't reach out to. They call you when they need you, not the other way around.

Besides, her schedule for the day was busy as it is, what with Cat Grant herself requesting an interview with Lena. She found out that Cat wanted to do an exclusive, a focus on L-Corp, what Lena's thoughts were on the recent attacks and if her position on making her company a force for good have changed or if she's still steadfast in her beliefs.

Then there were meetings that had to be moved around because they couldn't simply be cancelled. It doesn't matter if L-Corp was attacked, again, the world kept on turning.

She barely had a wink of sleep, what with not having any clue whatsoever with what could be going through Kara's head at the moment. Lena forgot for a moment, she was caught off guard by the rush of emotions and everything else that was happening around them.

She couldn't help it, Kara had that effect on her, and before she knew it she had been kissing her back… only as Supergirl.

And Lena wasn't supposed to know.

The rest of the day kept her away from her beloved although Lena wasn't going to lie that perhaps the space was what she needed to get her thoughts in order. Kate was right, she needed to let Kara know. The secrets between them were already starting to take its toll and Lena didn't want that.

Lena wanted all those sickly sweet romantic notions that people have that she never thought she would actually crave and want. She wanted to be happy with Kara, have a future with Kara.

Not keep secrets, not fight monsters, not live one day at a time like it might be the last before everything changes.

Before the earth gets pulled out from underneath her to leave her falling, crashing into the abyss that's been threatening to swallow her since she was adopted by the Luthors.

She was tired, really tired, but somehow the message she got from Kara that evening managed to give her an extra boost to get her work done and head on home.

No, not back to her penthouse.

But back to Kara.

Lena kept fiddling on the dials of her radio in the car. She could have had her driver to drive her to her destination but Kara's instructions were clear. To come meet her alone. In response, Lena asked to be driven home so she could drop off her things and drive her own car.

The drive, Lena had to admit, provided her some much needed time to slow down and think about things she was trying to shelf for the moment.

She settled on one station as she blew a nervous breath out. She was getting close and she was getting a little anxious.

_I'm halfway gone, sleepless I'm battle-worn  
You're all I want, so bring me the dawn_

She hasn't seen Kara all day. She hasn't seen Kara since the kiss, period.

Although they kept in touch through simple messages throughout the day, the constant appearance and disappearance of speech bubbles in their messages kept Lena thinking about a good deal of things, including what was unspoken.

Including what was troubling her form the start.

In Lena's mind, this could go in one of two ways. Maybe three.

One was that Kara would just power through the unspoken events of last night, the kiss being buried as a distant memory that would never be brought up again. This could be her way of making it up for that mistake. Pretend that she felt bad for how their date ended, use the excuse that Lena's had a long day and they needed a break. But Lena was torn about this scenario. Would she let things be? Let them stay the way they were? Or would she bring it all up, broach the topic? Because Lena wanted more, she wanted Kara. _All_ of her. But she didn't want to push Kara to tell her if she wasn't ready just yet. It was her secret after all.

Two was that Kara could realize that all of it was just a mistake. That maybe the best way to keep Lena safe was to let her go. And Lena was already bracing herself for the worst. Because Kara might just do that, not that she didn't feel the same way for Lena, not that it was actually a mistake, no. Kara could set her free, let her go, because Kara seemed to be the type of person to make that sacrifice if it meant it would pull Lena out of the dangerous situation they were in.

Three was that she would tell her.

And if Lena was being honest, she found this to be the least likely of scenarios. But by God, she was desperately wishing it would be the case, no matter how small of a chance it had of happening.

 _I need the sun to break, you've woken up my heart_  
_I'm shaking, all my luck could change_  
_Been in the dark for weeks and I've realized you're all I need_  
_And I hope that I'm not too late_  
_I hope I'm not too late_

Lena took another deep breath as she pulled up the driveway. They were somewhere over the hills overlooking National City, a completely secluded area. Before her was a Kara who stopped pacing as soon as she noticed Lena's headlights shining on her.

Kara's hair was down. She was dressed simply in her favorite blue button down, hands playing with the hems of her shirt as she tried to patiently wait for Lena.

Kara looked up and smiled and Lena turned her car engine off, telling herself to stay calm as she got out of the car.

"Well, the views amazing, if that's why you wanted to bring me all the way up here." Lena commented as she stepped up to Kara, noting the view of the city before them.

Kara simply smiled, never talking her eyes of off Lena. "Yeah it is. It's absolutely beautiful."

Lena chuckles as she turned to Kara, quirking a brow. "I am curious as to why we're here Kara." she replied with all honesty, doing her best to ignore her heart banging against her chest.

Kara smiled nervously, looking down on her hands as she blushed. "Well, first thing's first. Um, you… uh, are you… I mean I know we're dating but, it's just, everyone's just started calling you my girlfriend and I wanted to be clear on that, you know. That you are my g-girlfriend." she manages to say after almost choking on the word. "Especially since we just started going out and I just, you know, no pressure, but I…"

Lena laughed, cutting Kara's ramblings short. No matter what, Kara was absolutely adorable when she was flustered and worked up about something and it somehow always made Lena feel at home and relaxed. "Yes, Kara. I sure do hope so." Lena replied. "Kara, I'm very much committed to you. I want you to know that."

"I-I know. Just, well, it's… we've only been on a few dates and most of them were interrupted and… Well, we haven't exactly talked about it and you know, I…" Kara replied and Lena decided to stop her right there before she started another word vomit.

Lena shook her head at Kara's antics and kissed her on the cheeks before kissing her on the lips. Sweet and simple yet Kara soon found that the words always run out when Lena's lips were on hers

"Do you consider yourself as mine?" Lena whispered as she pulled away.

"Without a doubt." was Kara's immediate reply.

"Then don't think too much about it. We're together Kara. I'm yours, completely." Lena then said. "Who were you talking about anyways?" she then asked. "You know, the people who started to…"

"Oh, Alex, for one. And Barry, Sara, and _everyone else_. You know everyone, you've met them." Kara replied still acting a little nervous.

Lena simply nodded, taking in the information. A part of her was relieved to know that no, Kara wasn't breaking up with her, and yes, they were girlfriends and that Kara very much wanted that.

But that still didn't answer the question to what they were doing at some place so secluded.

Kara cleared her throat before Lena could even ask. "Would you like to dance?"

Lena looked back at her curiously and Kara simply shrugs. "I was hanging out with the gang at this dive bar –" Kara started to explain.

" _You_ were at a dive bar?" Lena asked amused. She just simply couldn't imagine Kara at such a place.

"Yes, a dive bar. It's a pretty cool place actually. Maybe when things start to die down I could take you there." Kara mumbled as a reply before she cleared her throat again and acknowledged Lena with renewed confidence as she spoke. "Anyways, it was karaoke night and people were having fun, all in the face of uncertainties this world has to offer. The past few weeks have been crazy after all. But, well, stuff happened and a whole lot of talking, it's just… I didn't see you the whole day and I wanted to be with you." Kara managed to say.

Lena nodded. "One problem Kara, there's no music." she pointed out.

"That's not really a problem." Kara then replied all smug as she offered her hand to Lena.

Lena looked at her questioningly but nevertheless accepted Kara's hand. Kara pulled her close and the two settled in a comfortable position, Lena remembering the night they dance during the charity ball.

Kara smiled at her, "Any requests? For a song I mean?"

"Are you telling me you're going to sing?" Lena asked, realizing what Kara had meant earlier. She didn't know if Kara could sing, it was a good tidbit of information to know if she did. Kara gave her a nod and Lena simply smiled back. "Do you have any song in mind? I don't exactly pay attention to current music."

"I do have one." Kara replied honestly. "It isn't exactly a new song, but like I said, I have a perfect one in mind."

"Then that one." Lena replied before resting her head on Kara's shoulder.

Kara started humming and already Lena could already tell hat Kara had a lovely voice.

It was only proven to her as they swayed to the notes that Kara started singing.

 _It's her hair and her eyes today_  
_that just simply take me away_  
_and the feeling that I'm falling further in love_  
_makes me shiver but in a good way_  
_All the times I have sat and stared_  
_as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair_  
_as she purses her lips, bats her eyes and she plays,_  
_with me sitting there slack-jawed and nothing to say_

Lena smiles as she listened to the words. Kara could paint a beautiful picture with her voice and those words.

Slowly as they swayed, as Kara's hands stayed firmly on Lena's waists, as she pressed down a kiss on the crown of her head, she started to forget about the convoluted plots, the death threats, and the illegal experiments.

The stars were shining above them, although few in numbers and their lights faint compared the lights of the city before them.

Lena felt her doubts and fears crumble away. What was left was just the two of them.

Not a Luthor, not a Super.

Not Lex's sister, not Superman's cousin.

Not Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp, and not Kara Danvers, reporter at Catco Media.

It was just her, Lena, and just Kara.

 _It's a masterful melody when she calls out my name to me_  
_as the world spins around her she laughs,_  
_rolls her eyes and I feel like I'm falling_  
_but it's no surprise_

Kara went on singing and Lena couldn't help but wonder about their relationship.

How light it felt despite how dozens of outside forces kept on trying to pull them apart.

And a part of her couldn't help but wonder what the need was for all of this, the seclusion form the world.

It was romantic yes, but a part of her was telling her that Kara was up to something.

Especially with how Kara was starting to tense up a little. Lena pulled away and looked up at Kara who stopped singing for a moment. Kara took a deep breath and asked Lena to step on her feet because she was getting all fumbl-y and fidgety that she was afraid of stepping on Lena's foot.

Lena obliged, kicked off her heels, and stepped onto Kara's feet. Kara started swaying once again and Lena rested her head against Kara's shoulder once more as Kara started singing, picking up where she left off.

 _'cause I love her with all that i am_  
_and my voice shakes along with my hands_  
_yes it's frightening to be swimming in this strange sea_  
_but I'd rather be here than on land_  
_'cause she's all that I see and she's all that I need_  
_and I'm out of my league once again_

Lena couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of it, what Kara was singing.

Kara was Supergirl, a god-like being gracing the citizens of National City every single day as she tirelessly worked to keep the city safe.

And yet, here she was, singing about how she felt like she was out of her league with Lena.

It made her heart swell, that was for sure. Kara Danvers definitely knew how to woo a lady.

But with all honesty, Lena felt like she was the one out of her league with Kara. There were days when she woke up completely uncertain on how she deserved to have Kara in her life, first as a friend, and now… well, now as the woman she…

Once again, Lena found the words catching in her throat, threatening to slip so easily that it frightened her a little.

She swallowed hard and placed a gentle kiss on Kara's neck hoping that those simple things, the stolen glances, the soft touch, the kisses… that all of it would be enough to convey how she felt. Especially when the words kept on catching her off guard and shaking her to her core.

Because how could three simple words be that powerful?

Because she did, she really loved her.

She loved her like she never thought could be possible.

With all her heart and all her being that it terrified her.

Because being with Kara, loving her, it felt like flying and Lena was scared of flying.

Or rather the falling.

Because she knew so well how gravity could be so unforgiving.

But then again, with Kara, it felt so easy. So effortless.

And so _real_ as Lena finally realized what was happening.

Lena pulled herself closer against Kara, her grip on her tightening impossibly so when she finally noticed that they were definitely a good ten to twelve feet off the ground and were continuously rising high above.

" _Shhh_. Don't worry Lena, I've got you." Kara gently said, her voice soothing and calm. "I've got you and I won't ever let you go."

Lena gulped and nodded furiously as she relaxed, letting go of her fears.

She was afraid of the fall, and truth be told, she already was falling.

Falling for Kara Danvers so fast and hard.

And yet here she was, already catching her, lifting her up.

Lena took in a deep breath to compose herself before pulling about an inch away to look at Kara. She gave her a weak and nervous smile as she breathes deeply biting her lip. She kept an arm around Lena, holding her tight to reassure her that she won't ever let go while one of her hands found its way to her glasses.

Kara took it off, and Lena's hands found its way from around Kara to her chest, resting it there. She looked up at Kara, a question in her eyes and Kara simply nodded.

Lena unbuttoned three to four buttons before her fingers could feel the texture of the tell-tale blue suit underneath Kara's button down. Kara took a rather ragged deep breath as she looked nervously at Lena.

Lena simply smiled, biting on her lip as she tried hard to keep the tears at bay, grappling with just how much Kara actually loves her, and how pure that love was for Kara to finally trust her with her secret.

She believed in her, she really did.

Lena choked up as she said thank you, pressing a kiss on Kara's cheek. She felt Kara breathe in a sigh of relief before Lena chuckled, amused at how Kara felt so nervous about it.

"Don't be mad, but I already knew." she whispered.

"H-how?" Kara asked, getting all flustered that made Lena chuckle again.

"Well, my first clue was your first interview with me." Lena started to say with the biggest of smiles on her face. "Flew on a bus, Kara?"

Kara started laughing nervously and pressed her head against Lena. "Here I thought I had a nice save."

"No, you didn't." Lena replied with all honesty, her eyes meeting Kara's impossible blue ones. She raised one hand and gently grazed the tiny scar above her eyebrow. "That was second." she murmured before taking a deep breath. "The third was your eyes Kara, they're a shade of blue that didn't exist on earth."

"Well, they did on Krypton." Kara mumbled and Lena smiled only bigger.

"And" Lena went on, lingering on the word, "the fourth, Kara, is that you had a light in you that no matter how hard you try and hide just kept breaking at the seams. No amount of pastel colored cardigans could help hide it. The glasses barely did anything too."

Kara chuckled, shook her head, and kissed Lena on her forehead in response "There's a light in you too, you know. Brighter than anything I've ever seen. It's what makes me shine brighter." she replied. "You're… You're okay with this, with me being Supergirl?"

"Kara," Lena immediately said, "I accept you, all of you, all of who you are. I want to be with you. Supergirl or Kara, it's the same to me because it's both sides of the same coin. It's what makes you who you are, Kara Danvers." she went on. Because after all, to Lena, Kara Danvers and Supergirl all rolled into the one person she loved, the lines separating them blurred and forever gone, especially now that Kara has told her.

"Zor-El." Kara then said, correcting her. "My real name's Kara Zor-El."

Lena smiled and nodded, repeating her name, relaxing into Kara's strong arms as Kara wrapped her other hand around Lena's waist yet again, holding her tight.

"Kara Zor-El." she said again finally piecing together the two parts of Kara that made her who she was. The name just sounds too immaculate in Lena's mind as she pulled herself closer to Kara.

She felt, more than saw Kara smiling as she once again planted a kiss on Lena's head. Somehow Lena knew that the night would not end there.

They had a lot to talk about.

Starting from Kara being a Kryptonian.

But for now, the two kept dancing in the clouds in the company of the stars and in one unperturbed moment that would last in Lena's memories for all her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I did say I was gonna make that moment worth it, I hope you guys liked it :)
> 
> Things, however, are just about to pick up with a few things happening like crazy. Our heroes get a break now, because they won't be able to catch one for like the next two chapters…
> 
> Song List: 'Hold Back the River' and 'Need the Sun to Break' by James Bay; 'Arsonist's Lullaby' by Hozier; 'Saviour' by Alicia Keys; 'Love Me Now' by John Legend; 'Stigmatized' by The Calling; 'Over and Over Again' by Nathan Sykes; 'Out of My League' by Stephen Speaks;
> 
> UPNEXT: It's the much dreaded (and awaited) invasion in the midst of chaos: the Blight VS the Super friends! It might take a while for the next update to be up, just busy with a few other things. So hang tight guys!


	20. What Heroes are Made of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here is chapter 20 which features the invasion of the Blight! The earth's in big trouble and National City faces the main forces of the invading army… its citizens!
> 
> Can Supergirl and the Super Friends save the day? More importantly, can they save each other?
> 
> Plus, Winn makes some new friends ;) Really important friends to make too for something minor later on… and they accidentally tell him stuff!?
> 
> And oh my God we're 10 more chapters before the end! Thanks for the support so far! Reviews and comments are always appreciated!

When Lena was four, she thought that the best day of her life would be the Luthors' first Christmas together as a family. The Luthor manor was as huge as castle that little Lena secretly thought that perhaps she was adopted by a royal family like the ones in the fairy tales the kids back in the orphanage loved so much. Lex was as charming as any prince, and Lionel spoiled her to bits despite only being a member of the family for a few months. Sure Lionel was always busy, and she never really saw Lillian either, but Lena figured that kings and queens were supposed to be busy with taking care of their people. And there were a lot of people, from gardeners to the kitchen staff, to butlers and drivers and guards.

But Lena was wrong.

Instead, it was the first time that she ever heard Lionel yell. She remembered his voice ringing through the halls as he lectured Lex in his study about how he wasn't doing enough to uphold the Luthor name. It was the first time she saw Lillian be a mother, sweet and caring, but only to Lex. As soon as she saw Lex to his room, she had gone back to her daily activities, ignoring Lena's efforts in trying to get her attention.

Lena learned when she was four that the Luthors weren't, in fact, a fairy tale royal family.

When she was eight, Lena realized that all the extravagant parties were all for show. At twelve she's realized she was just a pawn in the games, something the Luthors trod out like a prized pony. At fourteen she understood even more what the role of a princess was to a royal family, the particular role that she shared, to be a bargaining chip for alliances. At sixteen, she met Kate and learned how to subtly rebel against her mom without losing Lionel's good graces. In the end, all Lena learned was that there was no such thing as a best day, a best memory. Being raised a Luthor made her skeptical and highly critical of those things.

But all in all, it was made bearable by Lex. And whenever Kate popped up, by her too. But then he started to change, and she was too far away to reach him. And then the one person she still had disappeared too, Lena not knowing that those moments where Kate dropped off the radar were the beginnings of her life as a vigilante.

Then Lionel died.

And Lex spiraled into his own madness even further.

It was then that Lena realized that it was never written in the stars for her to be happy, that 'best days' and 'great memories' were all just once upon a times that meant nothing.

That 'happily ever after' was just a lie of a story that hasn't ended.

Little did Lena know that the stars had a different plan for her; that she would, in fact, know what happiness was like.

Kara ended up taking Lena flying around National City that night when she revealed herself to be Supergirl. She wasn't going to lie, when the idea popped into Kara's head, she had been completely terrified. One, because what if something happens and she falls. Two, what if someone sees them.

Kara thought it was absolutely ridiculous of course. She's been flying for at least a year now and no one's ever seen her flying around in her pajamas when she couldn't sleep. They just needed to go up higher into the clouds.

"You've only been flying for a year?" Lena had asked out of genuine curiosity.

"Well, I've only been Supergirl for a year or so." Kara had explained. "I tried to keep my powers under wraps since I got here, I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Although I did it once or twice when I first got here. I even took Alex with me once."

"How about on Krypton?" Lena had followed up.

"Hm? We have a red sun on Krypton, Rao, named after our sun god." Kara had replied. "I don't have powers under a red sun. The earth's yellow sun is what gives me my powers, and Kal's."

"Kal?" Lena had asked to clarify, despite already knowing the answer.

 _So Superman's name_ is _Kal-El...?_

"Superman." Kara had then said with a smile. "Now, we can stay floating twenty feet of the ground or I could show you the most breathtaking view of the city you'll ever get. You choose. And don't worry, Lena, you're in safe hands."

Lena had smiled in return and really how could she have disagreed to Kara's offer when she had been looking at her with her sunshiny smile and puppy dog eyes. "Only if you tell me more about your home, Kara Zor-El." she had given as a reply, loving the way Kara's name sounded, the way the syllables easily rolled off her tongue.

Kara did as she had requested. And as Kara took her flight, showing Lena her view of the world below them in all of its beauty, she understood what having a memory you would want to treasure felt like. What it meant.

Kara went on to talk about her life on Krypton and how she got to earth as she took Lena around the city. She talked about how on Krypton a computer essentially matched and pre-approved couples for marriage until Kal's father destroyed the program for good. She explained marriage rituals, the exchange of a specific colored arm band that represented the couple – and apparently no other couple was allowed to share the same color, making Lena wonder just how many colors were on Krypton and how many of them did she not know exist, or whether any of them compared to the blue of Kara's eyes – and that there was an exchange of ceremonial headbands and the binding of a cloth to represent their union. Kara went on about how marriages on Krypton could never be broken as Kryptonian law forbids divorce, making the union eternal, before Kara started rambling on, blushing a deep red as she realized she was talking about marriage and weddings in great detail, but with all honesty Lena simply found it amusing that she had decided to open up about that. Now Lena will forever treasure that one of the first things she learned about Krypton was about its wedding traditions.

After recovering a little, Kara talked about Krypton's guilds, her mother and father, and her aunt Astra – Lena wasn't sure but she could sense there was something that Kara wasn't exactly ready to talk about regarding her aunt that Lena didn't push when she suddenly fell silent. Soon Kara talked about her other aunt, Lara Lor-Van, and her uncle Jor-El. "They're Kal's parents." she had explained.

Just as they reached the bay area Kara started to talk about the House of El, and how that was what the "S" on her chest stood for – _And here I thought the 'S' was for 'Super'_ , Lena bashfully admitted to herself.

Kara went on to talk about how she became Supergirl after saving Alex's plane from crashing. "I remember seeing that on the news." Lena had commented and Kara had blushed.

The rest of the weekend was spent talking more about Kara being a Kryptonian back at her apartment. Lena had so many questions and Kara was all but willing to answer them all, the reporter saying that she didn't want any secrets between them. And while the demonstration of powers were outstanding, Lena found herself still wondering what had made Kara so different and special from Superman and the other Kryptonians that Cadmus had obtained and experimented on.

But she buried the thought away and did her best to forget about what she's learned from Westfield. The weekend was all about learning Kara from Kara herself. From the girl who trusted her with everything that she was.

Lena had heard Kara speak Kryptonese for the first time, she had learned the extensive list of Kara's powers as demonstrated by her girlfriend, she had listened to all of Kara's tales of the other planets she had visited... All until they had fallen asleep on Kara's couch for the umpteenth time while they had a movie playing on the background as Kara talked and Lena listened with undivided attention, trying to imagine the things Kara had seen in her various journeys. Lena wasn't sure when exactly they both fell asleep the night before, but somehow she thought it was around when Kara was talking excitedly about Christmas, which was more or less six days away, and how in a few days Eliza would be coming around and how they still haven't gotten a tree and it was such a terrible crime that Kara had nearly forgotten about that.

Because of course Kara Danvers loved Christmas.

And then came Monday morning. Kara was all but pacing around her living room worried about something, the excitement of the past days long forgotten.

"What is it?" Lena asked as she sipped her morning coffee. "You're worried about something."

Kara stopped on her tracks and bit her lip. Lena had to admit that she loved Kara's apartment a lot as she gazed upon her girlfriend in the middle of her living room, hair down and no glasses on – she didn't need it at home and when she was with Lena anymore – the sun brightly shining upon Lena's own personal sunshine.

It was like looking at an angel with the heavens above gracing its light upon her.

"I'm worried about a lot of things really." Kara replied as she took a deep breath and essentially gave a short summary about where she had been the two weeks she's been missing, the real reason why her friends were there, and the fact that they could have an alien invasion at any time.

"Did you say invasion?" Lena asked staring at her blankly. Somewhere at the back of her mind she made a mental note on giving Kate a piece of her mind for not telling her anything about it. All she really knew was that the teams from Earth-1 spilled into their earth because of a few ripples that a mess up in the timelines caused by Kara's friend Barry. That and that they were willing to help with their problems in Earth-38 for the meantime while they resolved the matter.

No one ever said anything about an alien invasion.

"I need to keep you safe." Kara immediately said.

"I can keep myself safe, Kara." Lena replied.

"Not from the Blight." Kara argued.

"What do you know about them?" Lena asked, making her way over to Kara from her kitchen island.

"Not much, just stories from Krypton, but nothing good Lena." Kara replied, grabbing her cup of coffee and setting it aside before she pulled her into her arms. "I'm sorry, I got caught up with the excitement of you finally knowing the truth and all that I forgot about the warning we received. Don't come to work today, I need you someplace safe."

"And where exactly are you planning to take me?" Lena asked, pulling herself away from Kara and looking at her curiously. "Kara, darling, if this is an all-out attack to _our_ planet, no place will be safe." she said, Kara scrunching her face as she smiled lightly when Lena said ' _our_ planet'.

Lena chuckled as Kara simply looked at her with adoration. To be honest, she wasn't expecting that to slip out so easily. For the first time Lena found herself changing, with Kara being Supergirl, with her life being saved by aliens time and time again, including the Martians that came to stop the attack at her building, and that other guy – _Mike?_ – who very clearly dressed up as a superhero now too.

Being with Kara, just knowing her really, made her understand that maybe some of her initial worries and fears were unjustified and while there were evil aliens out there, case in point was the Blight, there were good ones too.

And she just found herself the best one.

"I actually have three in mind." Kara then said with a sheepish smile. "But two of them would be busy dealing with the attack, and the other one is freezing cold, plus Kal might not be too happy to find you there."

Lena had been very much tempted to ask where on earth were these places, especially the freezing cold one because why on earth would Kara think it would be safe there and nowhere else on earth, but she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.

Lena pulled away and reached her phone just as the ringing ended. Unregistered number.

"Who was it?" Kara asked.

Lena was about to reply that it was a wrong number just as she got a message from her mom asking her to swing by her mother's National City residence.

Lena took a deep breath and sighed. Kara was by her side in mere seconds that she really didn't get the chance to say anything at all. Her Kryptonian girlfriend saw the message and within an instant she felt a protective arm around waist. "Lena…" Kara had said, her tone half pleading and half warning her not to meet her mother's request.

A wave of guilt hit Lena as she realized they haven't exactly approached the topic of Cadmus – mostly because a part of her was actively avoiding it, wanting to enjoy the moment she was having with Kara for once – over their perfect but short weekend and reality was pulling them out of their dreamlike days.

"I have to see her, Kara. If I don't, she'll come looking for me anyways." Lena replied, adopting a very diplomatic tone.

"Lena…" Kara started to say again, a crinkle forming in between her brows. Lena could tell that Kara wasn't sure what to say about her mother, about what more she knew of Cadmus.

"Kara, I'll be fine. I told you before, I can handle my mother." Lena then said firmly. "I'll go see her now, drop in for a while at work and keep myself safe in my apartment. I have a panic room there."

"I know." Kara replied and Lena quirked an eyebrow silently asking Kara the obvious question. "Sorry, I wanted to make sure your place was safe the first time I came in to visit you there and I gave it a quick scan for, you know, bugs or any surprises from your brother. But that's beside the point. The point is that you're panic room isn't exactly the safest place in the world."

"I'll be safe there. Especially with Supergirl and her super friends watching over National City." Lena said, giving Kara a look that forced her to concede. "But Supergirl will also keep herself safe, right? She won't do anything reckless?" pressed on, keeping her eye on Kara.

"I'll keep safe if you will." Kara then said a little defiantly and Lena smiled.

"Of course I will." Lena replied pressing a quick kiss on her cheeks. "But I have to go, busy day ahead of us."

She really didn't want to leave, Kara had become Lena's gravity now.

One that wasn't desperately pulling her to come crashing down.

But she knew if she doesn't move now, she would never want to leave.

Kara nodded and watched silently as Lena gathered all her things. "Lena, I-" Kara started to say just as she was at the door.

Lena turned around and looked at Kara expectantly. "I-" Kara repeated before visibly gulping. Lena felt like time had stopped for a moment, her heart could tell what words Kara very nearly had said.

But it was _too soon_. Just too soon.

And a part of Lena still felt like she didn't deserve it, Kara's love and affection.

"Please, take care." Kara seemed to have settled on once she recovered.

"I will, but you better keep your promise and take care yourself." Lena replied, surprised to hear the crack in her voice. She found herself suddenly being overwhelmed by the emotions that were keeping her rooted in her spot.

Perhaps it was the look in Kara's eyes – _Why does she care so much about everything and everyone?_ Lena thought, because the softness in Kara's eyes was always a weak spot for her, and Kara always had that look – or perhaps it was the way Kara's voice trembled, like she understood the frailty of the moment they have, this one little piece of quiet, as storm rages on all around them.

And perhaps it didn't matter what it was that was the cause but Lena knew that there was a part of her completely terrified, completely scared that this might be the last time she'll see Kara.

That this happiness would be short lived.

That maybe it _wasn't_ too soon but it may be _too late._

And she can't, she just couldn't think about the possibilities of what might happen next. The odds were stacked against them, true, and though Lena never believed in miracles, she believed in Kara.

In _her_ Supergirl.

And for her she would keep the hope alive against the endless doom looming over them.

Kara seemed to have sensed her worries and within seconds she could feel her lips against hers, pouring in all emotion, all they feel for each other, saying everything left unsaid between them as their lips brushed against each other in a searing kiss.

It was Kara who pulled away, hands resting on Lena's hips and head turning away, seemingly tuning into some distant sound that only she could hear.

And right on cue, Kara's phone started ringing.

"Alex?" Lena asked, fighting back the tears threatening to spill, keeping her hands wrapped around Kara's neck.

"Alex." Kara nodded as she spoke. She turned to press another kiss on Lena's forehead. "I love you." Kara then whispered. In barely a second, she felt Kara zooming away and into her suit.

And before Lena knew it Kara was out of her windows and off into the morning skies.

Lena took a deep breath and leaned back on Kara's door, still standing inside her apartment. "I love you too." she silently whispered into the empty apartment, hoping that somehow Supergirl had picked up on what she said.

And even if she didn't, she wanted to actually say it at least once, letting the words form in her mouth, hoping the winds could carry them to Kara and let her know in ways words could fail to convey.

* * *

Alex was expecting a giant spaceship crash landing somewhere, like Coast City for example. She was expecting aliens to come out said ship, guns a blazing or whatever kind of weapon they have from their own planet.

More and more of Brainiac 5's warnings and message were recovered over the weekend.

Apparently, as what Kara had said, the Blight were a techno-organic race of aliens that sought out the secret to immortality. They drained the life energy of worlds they have come in contact with. In the Legion's current time, they sought to obtain the power one of the Legionnaires possessed – Brainiac 5 didn't say who – to end their eternity of decay.

Bad news is that they can teleport around using an alien race they enslaved called the Doda. Brainiac 5 sent an image file to help them along but it had been corrupted – and on that note, Alex couldn't help but wonder how you even send a message file with an image attachment from the future to the present – so no, it really wasn't helpful. With teleportation helping them move around galaxies and immortality you'd think that they would be hard to fight already, but apparently they're also poisonous and Brainiac 5 kept warning them that anyone can be blighted. But no one had any idea what that meant, Brainiac 5's explanation being completely lost, completely irrecoverable. Alex, definitely didn't like that.

Even worse news is that the only way to defeat them had something to do with the Doda, again the explanation irrecoverable from the message they received, as the Blight needed the Doda to spread their decay across the universe.

After a weekend of attempts at trying to figure out what the missing pieces were while simultaneously balancing life in case it was their last days on earth, Alex was tired and worried and scared.

The future has always been uncertain, but somehow this was different.

Like there was a deafening sound of finality to it. Whatever happens next would seal their fate kind of thing. It's either they win or they all die.

In a world that thrives in grey areas, Alex sought refuge in the clear cut and definitive shades of black and white.

Not with their current choices though.

Because it's not just they either live or die.

It's either the whole world lives or dies, an entire future erased because of ripple effects from the multiverse.

With that in mind, Alex definitely did not like coming into work Monday morning with a report from Hub City about some weird dark tendrils seeding itself on the ground and consuming its city. She wasted no time in calling Kara in, J'onn getting all the heroes to suit up.

They flew under the radar. The invasion began even before anyone else knew anything was happening.

Just as Kara landed on the DEO's balcony, they receive a transmission coming from the Batman himself. He seemed to be on a jet on the way to Metropolis where the tendrils were starting to take hold. Superman had stopped responding to the League, and Kara most definitely did not like the sound of that.

"You can't leave." Alex said, grabbing hold of her sister. "We need you here. Besides, your cousin is strong, he's Superman."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." Kara replied.

"So what's the sitch?" Barry then asked, zooming in next to Kara. He was followed by the rest of the Earth-1 heroes, starting from White Canary, Atom, and Heatwave. Then came Green Arrow and Speedy. And finally even Cisco and Caitlyn, who Winn made a suit for since with Alex's help with the bracelets she wanted to give using her powers in a controlled manner a try.

It was a bit of an awe inspiring moment that Winn almost fainted next to Felicity.

"We're still trying to stay in communication with everyone." J'onn said. "We've contacted Batwoman who's en route to meet with Guardian on the streets since Kate's at home and James is already at Catco. NCPD is already arming up too, as updated by Detective Sawyer."

"Oracle's looping us in with the rest of the Earth-38 heroes, also you have a guy whose powers come from a green ring thing? He was talking about the tendrils of sorts starting to appear in Coast City from a video log earlier. Said some people started to disappear." Felicity then said as she worked the keyboards. With a few taps of her fingers the DEO's main screen showed audio clips and logs by each groups and representative techs keeping each other in the loop.

Alex's phone started ringing before being abruptly cut. The power in the DEO went out and surged back in matter of seconds just as she reached for her phone to call Maggie back but the service had been lost.

Kara was getting antsy next to her, pacing back and forth, which really didn't help Alex. She was starting to get worried about Maggie and she could only guess that Kara was worrying about Lena too.

They were supposed to be with her at the DEO, but Maggie argued that her help may be needed elsewhere, and she could be very stubborn too, so really, what else could Alex do?

"This is Sawyer. Fluctuations in all communication forms are currently being observed. We're also in a bit of a bind." Maggie then said through one of the coms.

"Do you need back up?" Alex immediately asked, rushing next to where Felicity and Winn were so that she would be closer to the box where Maggie's voice was coming from. It was strange but it was comforting.

"I think it might be a good idea to send back up now." Maggie replied. "People are getting antsy, and we're starting to get missing person reports."

Alex nodded before turning to J'onn who took in a deep breath.

"Gather everyone and team up. Be very careful with what we encounter. The Blight are known and feared throughout the universe for leaving death and decay behind them. No one seems to know exactly how because no one's ever lived to tell the tale." J'onn said before dismissing the team "You two be careful." J'onn said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and giving it a squeeze.

"You to J'onn." Alex replied, pulling him into a hug. As soon as she released him, Supergirl did the exact same thing. 

J'onn left, leaving Kara behind with Alex. Everyone else seemed to be doing the exact same thing around them, saying their potential final goodbyes and all, as they started to trickle out. Oliver was the only one left hanging around waiting for Kara, the two headed to the east side of the city for look out.

"Alex…" Kara started to say before Alex pulled her sister into a quick hug.

"No goodbyes or heart-felt speeches, you hear me? We're going to see each other again. I'm going to see my girlfriend, and you yours. We're gonna have a fun Christmas with mom in a few days, and everything will be alright." Alex said, fighting back the tears.

Because as much as she hated to admit, it felt like goodbye.

She pulled Kara closer, arms tighter around her, as Alex focused on feeling strong arms pulling her together for one last time.

They were each other's family, they were sisters. And for the longest of time, they've been protecting each other.

And Alex most definitely didn't want this to be the last time they get the chance to do that.

"Yeah. We definitely will." Kara replied, her voice shaky and Alex didn't have to guess that she was trying to fight back the tears as well. Kara had always done her best to save everyone, to save people. And in the end she always ended up alone, losing the people she loved. She was scared, not to face the enemies, or death – something Alex definitely did not want to think about regarding her sister. She was scared of the loss that all these tragedies leave behind in their wake. 

Of losing the people they loved.

And so was Alex.

"I'll be careful I promise." Alex whispered before letting her sister go.

She took a minute to compose herself, taking in a deep calming breath before Alex Danvers, sister, friend, girlfriend, and daughter, disappeared and Agent Danvers of the DEO took over, all cool, calm, and collected.

Because it was time to save the world.

* * *

It took three hours. Three hours of people going missing, reports of loss of power on the city, and going around on patrols before they started to realize what was happening.

Maggie stuck by Alex's side, the combined forces of the DEO and NCPD behind them for most of the remaining hours of the morning. Their forces were scattered by early afternoon, dealing with the return of the said missing people who reappeared as sudden as they disappeared.

Missing people and aliens, citizens of National City.

All of whom decided that attacking other innocent bystanders, human or alien, and abducting them to God knows where, was the best idea to have.

At first they all felt like isolated cases.

But then Kara and her friends from another earth started reporting the same recurring cases.

And the cherry on top was that Overwatch, or Felicity, patched in Oracle's message from Batman.

"They got him." he grunted, the audio file being overcome by static. "Damn it, I knew one of these days I'd need it." he added.

Maggie has no idea what the Dark Knight of Gotham meant but it seemed that Alex knew. "He's probably talking about kryptonite." Alex said knowingly just as the two of them tied up a bunch of thugs at a street corner with zip ties – they didn't have a steady supply of handcuffs so after the chaos in the streets increased exponentially, the DEO started handing a hundred pack bags of the thing to their different teams.

"I think we finally know what blighted means." Overwatch then said.

And in truth Maggie realized what she meant even without having to point it out. At first they thought it was because of people panicking, not knowing what kind of apocalyptic event was going on. But now, now it was clear.

The missing people, the sudden rise in hostile acts after they resurfaced. They were being taken and controlled, brainwashed somehow.

Maggie grunted as a bunch of preteens rushed them with bats and pipes – _Where did they even get the pipes?  -_  as Alex took the lead in disarming them.

"We can't hurt civilians. _Ugh_ , why can't we just fight the damned invading aliens instead?" she heard Alex complain.

"I think the answer to that is they mean to weaken us so that we would be primed for you know, sucking our souls out or life force or something." they heard Winn over the coms.

"Superman's been blighted, hasn't he?" Alex then asked, rounding up the preteens.

"Granted that we have one video clip from a tech guy in Metropolis uploading a file of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel duking it out to whoever could see it, then I assume yes, he has been blighted." Winn confirmed.

Maggie took a deep breath to calm herself as she turned to face Alex. "Any other super powered friends missing?"

"A good third of the League." Oracle then said, her voice taking over the transmission briefly.

"Perfect." Alex complained as she easily disarmed an aquatic looking alien angrily running towards her. She disarmed him with ease, without even pulling her gun, and managed to incapacitate him in an in instant. "Any ideas on how we can find a way to detain the population of National City and how they're doing the brainwashing? How to stop it would be nice as well, I don't like any of this at all." Alex huffed.

"Working on it." Winn, Felicity, and Barbara chorused.

And while they waited Maggie felt like the obvious should be said out loud. With Superman compromised, they can't lose any of the meta-humans or aliens on their team. "Guys, do you here that? Please tell me we are all still us?" she asked. "Let's count off by the hour. Simple message and reply would do."

Alex mouthed a thank you as she breathed a sigh of relief as Supergirl started the count off with "I'm still me."

"But Alex." Kara then said just as Oliver confirmed who he was. "I can't find Lena." she said sounding quite distraught.

"Focus on the job Supergirl. We'll be on it." Maggie offered.

Because despite not knowing Lena that well just yet, she would be damned if she let anyone she knew fall into the hands of those aliens.

And Alex reaffirmed her thoughts as they made their way protecting the citizen of National City from themselves.

* * *

The sun was setting and fatigue was slowly taking hold of them. It's been hours. Hours of stopping attacks, essentially putting everyone in the city on a time out. Even with a super suit like the one he's made, Ray knew that he won't be able to keep on fighting.

The few who remain un-blighted and who were out and about the city were currently being gathered at Catco, whose efforts are led by a thankfully un-blighted Cat Grant, and L-Corp, led by Lena's assistant Jess under Lena's strict directions as she couldn't be there to personally help out, while the blighted were taken to the DEO, the NCPD holding cells, and makeshift holding areas at the Kane building. Anyone who remained safe indoors were instructed to remain inside.

"This is getting ridiculous. When can I fry some alien brains?" Mick complained just before Agent Vasquez gave him a displeased look.

Or was it an approving look? Ray can't really tell right now. He had just about disarmed another three or so alien species he's never seen before, the agents backing them up readying them for transport.

"This can't be it." Ray said, slightly out of breath as he landed next to Heatwave. "It just can't be it. They're weakening us, we know that. We've been successful from thwarting their plans, and all we have of the tendrils in the city, at least that we know of have been frozen by Caitlyn. But we can't destroy them. Something's missing. Something's still wrong."

"Like the obvious idea that the aliens may come attacking us themselves in a matter of hours?" Agent Vasquez retorted. "Coast City is in total darkness, as of the last update. Metropolis has transformed into a battle arena with people fighting each other with Batman and Superman still going at it. Hub City, Bludhaven, Gotham, they're all barely holding on. The only reason we've made it so far with minimal damage is because we have you guys. New York and San Francisco bases are also down. So no, the DEO couldn't have handled it alone. And oh, superheroes are still fighting superheroes everywhere else."

"Not to bum you guys but the tendrils _are_ still spreading worldwide." Felicity then said, pointing the obvious. "Guys, we might need to spread out globally."

"Overwatch is right, the cities haven't completely fallen yet, but most places are in near black out." Winn then said with a deep sigh. His voice sounding desperate and frustrated. "We need to find a way to stop the darkness from spreading."

"Well, we're waiting for ideas 'cause I've got none." Ray then said admitting what he didn't want to admit earlier.

He tried, but his suit wasn't quite enough in destroying the tendrils that were taking root in the city, the ones that Caitlyn froze.

Apparently Heatwave couldn't burn them.

The only one who had luck was Supergirl but what she destroyed was quickly replaced by new ones, as if they were coming from a source somewhere.

Like when you cut a few branches off a tree and they grow back.

Ray felt like he might be onto something when they heard Oracles voice through the coms.

"I think I might actually have some piece of good news."

"How about bad news first?" they then heard Thea's voice saying with sense of urgency just before they heard a loud bang somewhere close to where they were in downtown National City.

"Finally, some real action!" Mick said, rushing to the source.

And somehow Ray got a feeling he wasn't going to like this as he rushed behind his friend.

* * *

Thea wasn't particularly happy to know that she was running out of arrows as she sent another one flying towards one of their teammates, the Green Martian.

She was on a team with a few DEO agents, M'gann, and J'onn. They've been doing well with handling what they came across with when they decided to split up about an hour ago to check the edges of town. See if there were any clues as to where the tendrils were coming from and where the people were being taken.

The agents were now scattered, and when M'gann returned, Thea was a little confused as to what she meant when she said that J'onn's eyes were red. They were supposed to be glowing red in the first place.

But when J'onn J'onzz returned not quite himself, Thea realized what she meant.

M'gann quickly jumped into action, "Someone needs to stop him from hurting anyone. J'onn won't forgive himself, brainwashed or not." she said to Thea. It made Speedy vow to help her new friend however was she could.

Elsewhere, the rest of the teams were reporting even more cases and conflict and it didn't help that one of their most powerful allies were now being controlled by the enemy.

The cavalry came in the form of Mick, Ray, and some DEO agents led by Agent Vasquez. The fight with J'onn didn't last long, however, with M'gann taking him far away into the skies to minimize any damage and casualties in case it got ugly.

Nevertheless, fighting still ensued when a few DEO agents started to attack them, eyes glowing red.

At that point, Thea decided to stick with her hand to hand combat skills. "Ah, Oracle, you were saying something earlier about a good news, right?" she heard Ray say as he disarmed a few of the agents that had Thea surrounded. "You still there?"

"Yes, sort of." Oracle then replied. "What's going on?"

"Just a bit of fighting." Thea replied, not entirely sure how to explain anything or even where to begin. Because seriously, why is it that invading aliens loved brainwashing people to fight for them?

"The Green Martian's down." Agent Vasquez provided as an explanation.

"What do you mean J'onn's down?!" they heard Alex's voice booming through the coms.

"He's been blighted." Ray provided as an explanation before Mick crash landed from somewhere in the skies, his back against the asphalts and heat gun on full fire power. "What the…" Ray let out as he looked up at what Mick was aiming at.

"I'm starting to regret what I said earlier." he grunted and Thea was left wondering what it was that he said because she was sure she wouldn't like it.

Because up above a tall building, just as the sun was setting behind them, _they_ had started to appear from the shadows. Pail and wrinkly skinned, black metallic fittings surrounding their body like an armor, red eyes shining brighter with the descending darkness as more and more tendrils appeared around them.

The Blight had finally come out to play.

* * *

"Speedy?! Speedy, respond! Atom? Heatwave? Agent Vasquez? Anyone?" Felicity started yelling in the control room as they lost contact with the team.

Felicity was scared, she didn't like this. Not one bit.

_No, no, no, nononono._

"Maybe their coms just got disconnected?" Winn offered as a hopeful explanation.

And Felicity had to struggle to let herself believe that. "Right. Everyone else doing okay?"

"If by okay you mean running away from robotic-looking decaying almost zombie-like aliens, then yes. Although I do want to say, I'm a huge fan of SciFi and fantasy and all, but this is just a fanboys worst nightmare." they heard Cisco say through the coms, Vibe wanting to help out in the streets instead from behind the scenes.

"Vibe, what's going on?" Felicity asked, taking command. In some weird sense, with J'onn out of commission and a handful of DEO agents left on the good side, it was her and Winn put in charge back in the base.

"The aliens are coming! I repeat, the aliens are coming!" he replied.

"And they're not friendly." Caitlyn added.

"How's everyone else?" Winn then asked typing away.

"Not bad, just having a good ol' run." Mon-El replied. "For some reason, they're very interested in me. They've been ignoring the people in the nearby apartments taking a peak out their windows."

"We're holding on." Maggie replied.

"I'm taking my team to check on Speedy's and Atom's teams." Sara then replied. "And I think I just spotted Detective Sawyer and Agent Danvers."

"Good to hear, let's regroup at the corner of Main St." Alex then replied.

"We kinda have our hands full too." Barry then said. "I see Green Arrow and Supergirl in the distance putting up a fight. I'm on my way to help."

"Help would be very much appreciated." Green Arrow grunted. "Oracle, are you still there? The good news you were talking about?"

"Hang on, I'm sending you all the files on coordinates." Oracle then said. "One of our heroes, Starfire, managed to do a quick tour of nearby cities and Clayface – yep one of Batman's rogues turned current pupil, I guess? He's been training him with Batwoman before she left, they have a pet project, I suppose you can say, of new vigilantes – managed to infiltrate one of the enemy camps where they do the brainwashing."

"And?" Felicity asked in anticipation.

"We've figured out where the Doda is and how to free them." Oracle then said. "Better yet, we figured out what the Doda is."

"But?" Winn then added, beating Felicity to the punch.

"We'd need a catalyst. And we need to attack _the Stem_." Oracle started to say before she was cut off from what she was saying yet again by James, aka Guardian.

"Yeah, let's cut the unnecessary explanations and give the straight up directions on what to do because we're getting smaller in number and _I_ need serious help." he said.

And Felicity didn't need to ask why.

The bad feeling that's been sinking in for a few hours now had her assuming the worse.

* * *

James knew it would be a terrible idea. Splitting up.

Kara's been very much distracted by the fact that she can't find Lena anywhere, having checked each and every place where she could have gone. Kate, Batwoman, had been grunting each time she had to reassure Kara that Lena was safe.

"And how do you know?" Supergirl had asked.

"I gave her an emergency signal, if she turns it on, it would send me an alarm and her coordinates. She's been using it as a device for Morse code. I get the alarm coming out as dots and dash sounds but I can't get her location because the GPS won't pick it up if it's not turned on long enough." Batwoman had explained. "It means she's safe and she doesn't want to reveal her location, possibly because she's not sure the signal couldn't be traced to us or back to her or something, I'm not sure. Crazy times with the invasion and all."

"She was supposed to see _her mom_." Supergirl had said, even flying towards their location, saying it with such distaste as if Lillian Luthor was the Devil herself.

"But she's safe?" Kara had asked again.

"Yes." Batwoman had replied. "Now go save the world Supergirl."

Kara was able to focus much more after that little encounter.

But Batwoman seemed to get more and more distracted as the alerts came to her from Lena.

"She is safe right?" James had asked before they decided to part ways. "You weren't lying to Kara."

"No I wasn't. She's okay. But her last message said that tendrils started to appear where she was so I'm planning to check out the infected areas and make sure she hasn't been taken. Can you handle yourself?" Batwoman asked.

"I can. I have the team behind me." Guardian noted, nodding towards the direction of the DEO agents scoping the block they were on.

But again that was an hour ago.

Now James had a very much brainwashed Batwoman chasing after him after she beat half of the agents with him, and scattered the other half as they tried to look for back up.

James shield was able to keep him safe from the barrage of the batarangs so far but with strange unfamiliar noises drawing closer, he wasn't entirely happy about his prospects.

"Yeah, let's cut the unnecessary explanations and give the straight up directions to do so, because we're getting smaller in number and _I_ need serious help." he said, hearing the latest transmission from Oracle as he decided to hide out behind an ally way in an attempt to shake Kate Kane off his trail.

"Okay. Well, looks like we can use a catalyst to send a vast energy wave through the Doda's network, aka the tendrils that are taking root around the entire world. This will cause a detonation of 'life energy' which will reverse the Blight's state of entropic decay. But we need to unleash this energy at the Stem. I managed to piece together broken bits of the corrupted parts of Brainiac 5's transmission and from that he said that during their encounter, there was this Legionnaire the Blight were after for his powers so they can use it to end their eternal state of decay. He was the one who unleashed the energy but the problem is he's not yet the hero he's supposed to be during our time… something like that... Somehow we're lucky though." Oracle explained in an urgent tone.

"What do you mean?" Winn asked through the coms just as Batwoman appeared in the alley catching James off guard and knocking his shield away as he was struck down by the attack.

"I really need help right now!" James exclaimed before Oracle could even speak, Batwoman brandishing a steel like staff.

Vibe appeared in the nick of time sending her off to one end of the alley. Caitlyn immediately rushed to help James up. The three of them dashed out of the scene as fast as they could, Vibe suggesting they seek refuge at the gym of a nearby school.

"Guardian, are you okay?" James heard coming from Winn through the coms, panic evident in his tone.

"We got him, don't worry." Vibe then said. "Although I wish my powers were up to speed. The multiverse ripple effect still has them limited."

"Don't worry about that now. Like I said we're in luck. The Stem is just outside of National City and though we don't know who this Legionnaire was, Brainiac 5 did reveal we have something better than him in our time."

"Explain." they heard Flash say.

"We have our own Kryptonian regarded as one of the best superheroes of all time." Oracle then said.

"But my cousin's currently blighted." they heard Supergirl then say. "How is that being lucky?"

"I was talking about you, Supergirl." Oracle then said with pride in her voice.

And somehow James couldn't help but share Oracle's own sentiments and find hope once more.

Everything was not lost just yet.

* * *

Oracle's plan was simple. They infiltrate the Stem and blow it apart with Kara's heat-vision.

But the plan was easier said than done.

Barry met her and Oliver at the edge of town towards the direction of a growing darkness. To get to where they need to be, they need to power through an army of the Blight and possibly an army of the blighted.

They couldn't do this alone.

Kara took a deep breath while they waited for back up. She really wished Alex could be there with her but there was barely anyone left to stand and fight for National City. M'gann was still fighting J'onn somewhere downtown, some of their friends have been blighted, and all they have left of a team to keep the unblighted safe were a few NCPD officers and the remaining agents under Alex to join up a team including herslef, Maggie, Sara, James, Cisco, and Caitlyn.

So all they have for back-up against an army of immortal aliens was essentially Mon-El. Considering they were strangely enough interested in him for some reason, Oracle figured he could be the bait.

Besides, having someone who had powers against aliens didn't hurt.

"Ready?" Barry asked with a deep breath as he grabbed onto Oliver, gearing up for their one last rush to save humanity.

To save Earth-38.

"We don't really have much of a choice." Mon-El pointed out.

"Let's do this." Kara said with conviction.

Because no, they won't lose. They can't.

She would see Alex again.

She was gonna see all her friends again.

She was going to see Lena again.

The fate of the world was now in their hands and their chances never felt as bleak as it was at that moment.

_El Maraya_

They were _stronger together_ , no matter how few they were left.

They were the earth's last hope.

And Kara would be damned if she let her second home be left in a state of utter destruction.

Because it can't just end like that.

Their team of four wasted no time rushing through enemy lines. Oliver barely had any arrows left, that he had any left was much of a surprise but it helped that he held back against the blighted humans and that he was with Supergirl's team.

Surely enough, once the Blight spotted Mon-El, much of their forces focused on catching him. This gave Barry, Ollie, and Kara an opening to infiltrate the base.

While infiltrating the enemy camp might have been what Kara assumed would be their worst of their troubles, they did eventually realize that they didn't have much of a plan to go on from that. All they knew was that they needed to free the Doda by allowing them to bloom so they could complete their life cycle... but they don't exactly know what the Doda looked like...

Kara tried firing off at different things all over the base and at the base itself until they reached a chamber at the center of the Stem. The Flash offered to hold off the enemy outside the chamber while Green Arrow stood guard with Kara inside. Kara looked around, unsure what she should be looking for in the first place, when she found some sort of purple colored energy vortex at the heart of the chamber.

That's when it clicked.

Kara unleashed the full force of her heat-vision towards the energy vortex just as Oliver barely stopped one of the Blight who rushed towards her with his last explosive arrow.

Kara yelled, putting everything she's got in a steady beam of energy to overload the vortex that was now turning to a cream-like color. She mustered every bit of power, every ounce of strength left in her system to achieve her goal. She wasn't entirely sure what would be enough but somehow she knew that what she needed to do was to destroy the vortex completely.

Or at least something to that effect.

Supergirl fell on her knees just as the Stem started to crack before finally blowing apart, the Doda finally being allowed to bloom.

Oliver was tossed away as a liberating pulse coursed throughout the tendrils. The Blight started to evaporate and Supergirl finally felt herself completely tapped out.

A light settled around them, Kara wasn't entirely sure what it was but it felt good. It was one of her last thoughts as fatigue started taking over her.

She couldn't hold herself up anymore. Her body was weary and her bones were tired. She felt completely sapped of her strength.

The last thing Kara saw was Oliver rushing to his feet and making his way towards her before she fully collapsed.

* * *

They were at the heart of National City, completely surrounded. The White Canary, Agent Danvers, Detective Sawyer, Guardian, Caitlyn, and Cisco himself.

They lost connection from the DEO mere minutes ago as the tendrils started to fully overtake the town and all power was gone, plunging the city into darkness. Cisco wasn't even sure if Felicity, Winn, or the rest of the agents left behind were still okay. In truth, he could only hope that they were. J'onn was shaking himself off after having fallen from the sky with Miss Martian. He was leading the force of the blighted while M'gann struggled to stand from where she crashed. The situation seemed dire, with most of their friends now turned into their enemies.

This was it, their last stand.

Cisco never thought he'd meet his doom on another earth in the multiverse fighting as a superhero, but he figured it sure was one damn fine way to go.

"You guys ready to rumble?" Sara asked as their assailants drew near.

"Well, it was surely nice serving with all of you." Cisco found himself saying just before the miracle happened.

A pulsing light spread through the tendrils, the Blight evaporating as it happened and the blighted dropping unconscious.

A warm wave had hit them as the pulse made its way all around the globe.

"Holy Hogwarts, they did it! They actually did it!" Cisco then said when he realized what was going on, not entirely sure if he wanted jump, scream, cry, or what. He settled on crushing Caitlyn in a bear hug.

They did it.

They saved Earth-38.

_Oh, they saved Earth-38!_

"Yeah, they did it." he heard Alex say as she fell down on her knees, tired and exhausted as a wave of relief washed over her. "Oh, God they did it."

And Cisco couldn't help but feel the exact same sentiments

Their friends saved the day.

They all did.

* * *

In a matter of an hour the DEO had its power restored. Alex immediately treated Thea, Mick, Ray, Kate, and J'onn along with the other agents that were blighted while Maggie led the forces of still functional DEO agents and what remained of the NCPD to make sure that everyone in National City was safe.  _Talk about a power couple,_ Winn had thought to himself as he watched all his friends do what they do best. Power also started to slowly return worldwide. National City was recovering electricity, in particular, by the minute, grid by grid.

Cat Grant didn't waste any time in addressing the citizen of National City and spreading the message of hope that Supergirl would undoubtedly want everyone to have. Repairs were actively being done with the damages the city sustained and both alien and human residents worked hand in hand in doing so.

Every major media outlet that regained one way, shape, or form, of spreading the news wasted no time in keeping everyone else informed as well. Oracle sent a message that confirmed the current state of the other Earth-38 heroes, how they were doing, and that they were indeed back to being normal, just all weakened.

Especially Superman.

In the meantime, Ray, Cisco, Caitlyn and Felicity took over the lab while Supergirl laid in the sunbed, having solar flared yet again.

Kara had been unconscious since Barry carried her back to base. Alex went from thankful to panicked in a matter of seconds when she realized how depleted of strength Kara was that Winn was entirely thankful that the tech-inclined and genius members of the super friends of Earth-1 volunteered their help in making a more efficient sunbed to bring Kara back in shape in no time.

J'onn excused himself from the med bay once he was feeling better and he and M'gann started talking at one of the conference rooms. He seemed thankful that she tried to stop him from doing something he would have regretted when he was under the Blight's control.

Barry, in the meantime, was fiddling with the device Cisco gave Kara and had discovered that they could, in fact, go home anytime they wanted to with the crisis of the Blight over. He and Oliver decided that they would do just that once Supergirl was better just in case they were still needed in Earth-38 while she was down.

In the meantime, White Canary and Mon-El started doing rounds in the city to help out along with James – much to Alex's chagrin since he's been completely wiped out, but James was stubborn about it and insisted that he needed to do something other than just lie down and rest – because someone needed to keep an eye out of the city. No one has any clue about what Cadmus was doing, if they destroyed themselves during the invasion or miraculously escaped it, but they couldn't just let their guard down.

That's how Winn found himself in the command center of the DEO base all by himself, monitoring current news worldwide, activities around National City, and a keeping a channel open to Oracle in case of anything.

Winn was sipping on his cup of tea – because with the day they've had, he really needed to relax – when all of a sudden he heard a fritzing sound from behind him. He turned his seat around and there stood two complete strangers.

A young woman with blonde hair and a suit of white and red, a symbol of the planet Saturn as her crest.

And young man with reddish hair and a blue and white suit with lightning patterns going down from his shoulders and collar bone.

"We did it! We made it! It means they've beaten the Blight! Oh, Brainy's going to be happy!" the young man said.

"Uh, sorry to be rude, but who are you?" Winn asked with a bit of apprehension.

"Sorry about that, I'm Saturn Girl, and this is Lightning Lad. We're members of the Legion of Superheroes." the young woman replied, introducing themselves to Winn.

"Like, the Legion, the super hero team from the future?" Winn asked. He was bit speechless but having actual members of the group who sent them the warning about the Blight appear in the DEO in front of him was just too cool to be true.

 _And why do I always have to be alone when these things happen? No one's going to believe me._ Winn thought to himself.

"Yes, the one and only." Lightning Lad replied with a smile. "We're here to test if the Blight has been gone, you know the anomaly resolved. And they have been defeated, clearly, because the ripples had settled and we're here." he went on in a rather jovial tone. "Anyways, as a thanks, we wanted to give one of you this. You all saved us, you saved our present by saving your future. So if you ever need us…" he said as he handed Winn a small black box.

"What is… whoa, what is this?" Winn asked as he opened the bow and saw a golden ring with an 'L' and a shooting star inscribed on it.

"It's a Legion Flight Ring. Special Edition. You can use that to reach us if you all ever need help." Saturn Girl explained. "And please take care of it, it's made of a rare metal so only few are in existence. Superman actually has one in his Fortress from his adventures with us when he was younger."

"Did you say 'flight' ring?" Winn asked to reconfirm what he heard them say.

Saturn Girl simply laughed. "It is what it is. But like we said, it's a special edition one. So there are added benefits."

Winn nodded along with a huge grin on his face. "So you also said Superman was a Legionnaire?"

"He's visited the future, sure." Lightning Lad answered before a more somber look settled on his face. "So this is the DEO? Man, so many great friends come from this place. Is Supergirl around? I'd really love to meet her too."

"She's resting in the sunbed, still unconscious." Winn replied.

Lightning Lad nodded. "It's just, she's amazing you know? And her successors are pretty awesome too, but no one beats the original."

"Ah Lightning Lad…" Saturn Girl started to say in a warning tone.

"What do you mean successors?" Winn then asked.

"Nothing's permanent yet but our memories are changing, and before we got here Brainy noticed a few inconsistencies with the archives because parts of your future, our history, are still settling down." Lightning Lad explained.

"But Supergirl has successors?" Winn asked and Saturn Girl gave him and Lightning Lad a warning glance.

"Lightning Lad, we shouldn't." Saturn Girl then said.

Lightning Lad then nodded. "I know, but it's just… it's a shame you know. We've got so many memories trying to mesh together now, so many adventures that could be erased. And now we're not sure if we get Galatea or…"

Saturn girl simply covered Lightning Lad's mouth as he rambled on, forgetting Winn was in the very same room with them.

"Galatea? What on earth are you talking about? What do you mean by adventures that are going to be erased?" Winn asked, standing up from his seat, sounding more and more concerned.

There was another crackling sound somewhere from the room. Winn heard a sigh coming from behind him before he turned around and saw the one and only Brainiac 5. "I was afraid you'd end up doing something like this." he had said, addressing both Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl.

"Sorry, with everything still adjusting with what we know, what we knew… it feels strange and weird." Lightning Lad replied as Saturn Girl unclasped his mouth.

"I still need answers here." Winn demanded.

Brainiac 5 look torn, "If we speak any more of it we could create paradoxes, or aberrations, if you will."

"Something bad is gonna happen, isn't it?" Winn asked. He wasn't entirely sure if he was angry or sad or tired or just plain old frustrated.

But he could feel it.

A foreboding of something ill.

"Please understand, Mr. Schott, so much had already changed from what we know of to come. If we say more, we might affect what is to be the future, our present." Brainiac 5 replied.

"Our past, the original one based on the little we remember of it now is that Lex won't be imprisoned for five more years. That he would cripple his sister and break her spirit, that he would do even more horrendous crimes. A future where Superman would die and rise again. A lot has changed since then." Saturn Girl replied. "We believe some things will inevitably happen and that no matter what we do, it will happen. Time would find a way to correct itself. If we warn you even more, if we give you information on a few things, we might actually become the cause of it. But some of the future has changed, such as the Blight invasion, the appearance of heroes from another earth, and because of that our present is still shifting. Heck we might be splitting off into a different earth of the multiverse now and things are just settling down and all."

"And in our current present, our historical archives keep changing. What's settling right now, although not completely cemented, is something that would happen soon. And it involves, you know…" Lightning Lad continued before he shrugged.

"Supergirl?" Winn asked worried. "A-are you telling me… we'll _lose_ Supergirl…?" he asked with a gulp.

"Even if Kara Zor-El falls, many would rise. There would always be a Supergirl." was Brainiac 5's reply.

"They just wouldn't be Kara." Winn retorted hurt, emotions overwhelming him as she started to piece together what the Legionnaires were trying to say. "How?" he demanded to know.

"Mr. Schott, I repeat, the future isn't cemented yet. There is one where Kara Zor-El makes it through the coming ordeal, and one where she does not. We can't… we don't know how we can affect things. The Blight was a certainty that if you fail… If you fail all is lost and really we had nothing to lose if we chose to warn you or not." Brainiac 5 replied.

"So it's okay to warn us about what could endanger your lives but not with my best friend's?" Winn asked, grabbing Brainiac 5 by the scruff of his neck. "So what now? You just want us to seat tight and let fate and time decide if it wants to kill Kara? We're just supposed to do nothing?"

But Brainiac 5's resolve had not wavered. "Because it's already unravelling…" he replied. "And make no mistake, we care for her too. There was once a future where we were her friends and allies, but now even that is endangered. We don't want her to die, that's why we don't want to mess anything up. Our interference could become the very cause of it."

Winn found himself letting him go as he staggered back to his seat, Brainiac 5 looking rather torn about it. He could tell, he cared about Kara.

Somehow he saw a reflection of himself in the Legionnaire's eyes.

"I'm sorry if we can't help you with this." Saturn Girl replied.

"But we believe that what should be will happen and all would come to pass." Lightning Lad added.

"We have to leave. Our presence here might have already altered events." Brainiac 5 then said. "We can't risk staying any longer."

And within a blink of an eye the Legionnaires were gone.

Leaving Winn to grapple with the news of Kara's _possible_ death to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So threats are definitely not over. The crossover has two more chapters to go, especially since National City is at its most vulnerable. Sorry for the sort of cliffhanger there. Don't worry much, if something terrible's gonna happen, I'll put a warning.
> 
> I took some liberties with the Blight (although I kept it as close to the source material as possible) since I actually didn't read the comics and just researched the story arc, plus I wanted it to be Kara-centric in a way (because reasons!). I might have also let a few things slip with Lightning Lad…
> 
> Now here's something funny… while writing this fic, I wanted to bring in an alien threat other than the Dominators (hence why they would need the crossover, because overwhelming forces and stuff) that would loop in with the Legion of Superheroes (I need them later on for a brief appearance) and tie it back with the Cadmus arc (next chapter!). So I searched the Legion's enemy lists (since I'm not familiar with all of them) and found the Blight. Turns out (while actually writing this chapter and digging for info) that in the comics, the Blight exists in one timeline of the multiverse and are in search of Mon-El (who is a Legionnaire; the version of him in that comic has his name spelled as M'Onel or 'one who wonders' in the Martian language; Mon-El was originally named by young Clark after his family, 'El', thinking that he was his long lost brother, the 'Mon' part comes from the fact that he was found on a Monday) because they think his powers would grant them the immortality they seek (hence it being centered on Mon-El/M'Onel/Valor, his real name is Lar Gand, okay). 
> 
> If they turn out to be the alien race after him in the actual show I'm gonna laugh out loud because that's just a happy accident (they actually kind of look like the armored aliens-thingy from the end of 2x8 – at the very least, pass as that – except more death and decay and nightmarish). I think they might use that to bring Mon-El's arc full circle in becoming a hero, from someone who was just doing it for/to impress Kara to someone actually worthy of his comic book counterpart (I could be wrong and just very hopeful, trying to see the good in this). The other possibility could be related to Mongul (which was actually my original plan for the fic). Either way, I'm still calling it (they should probably hire me, anyone wants to call the writers attention to this fic for me? :P). But anyways, the Blight, feel free to look them up.
> 
> UPNEXT: It's the return of a now mutated foe backed up with familiar monstrosities from Cadmus! Again, might take a while before I upload this chapter, so please bear patience with me :P


	21. Attack on Kryptonite Man Pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so there was a reason I called the first one 'Pt 1'. Here is chapter 21 aka the part 2 of the fight with an angrier, more dangerous Kryptonite Man… and an army of not so friendly cyborg zombie aliens…
> 
> Heads up on two things 1: we have a BIG reveal in this update, and 2: something BAD happens at the end. I leave it to your discretion to read this now or read it with the next update. That said, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible to soothe your worries. Also, if stuff stays dark and twisty permanently/if something happens to a character and it stays permanent, I'll add it to the warnings so you'll know. I've changed the rating to 'M' because of the upcoming fight with Cadmus and some emotionally charged scenes ahead that highlights their cruelty.
> 
> Comments and reviews are always welcome. If there's something you're worried about and need to discuss with me (because of certain events from certain shows that left people permanently scarred – I know it did me a little) let me know. We can talk, and I'll soothe your feelings ;) You can always hit me up at tumblr (/thehypotensivegrad).

Winn found himself all but crashing into one fancy looking medical equipment five minutes after the Legionnaires left and upon realizing that he needed to find Alex.

Alex, Kara's sister and badass DEO agent extraordinaire, was currently checking on Thea now that she's woken up. Mick was still soundly dozing off on one of the beds at the med bay while a recently back from patrol Maggie was arguing with Kate, Batwoman, who was stubbornly refusing to stay still one minute longer.

"You look incredibly pale! You need to rest!" Maggie had argued.

"I'm always pale!" Kate had retorted as she struggled to get out of the bed.

"Do they always argue?" Thea asked Alex.

Alex shrugged. "I'm not stepping in between those two. They have history I don't want to dig up." she replied truthfully.

"Yes, pale with a chest injury that never really healed! Damn it Kate, why are you so stubborn?!" Maggie yelled. "You can't overexert yourself!"

Completely distracting Winn because she's never actually heard the detective yell.

Instead of actually crashing, Winn found himself sliding down the floor as he skidded to a halt, hitting his head as he fell, a result of losing his balance.

Somehow the blow bought him time to figure out what it was that he had wanted to tell Alex.

Winn knew that he could either act on the knowledge of a possible future or not. If he acts on it, would that change the future or secure it? If he doesn't, then what happens?

After essentially arguing with himself in his head while Alex was checking to see if he was okay, Winn grabbed his head and all but pulled out his hair as he screamed.

This shouldn't be really hard to figure out.

But he was scared.

Really scared.

Because what if he makes a mistake, a wrong choice? What if his decisions cost Kara her life?

"Winn, what on earth is going on with you?" Alex asked, looking at him with caution. There she was Alex Danvers, still working tirelessly to make sure everyone was okay even after the day they've had.

Everyone was, as a matter of fact.

They were all helping each other out, despite the fact that fatigue should start settling in, despite the fact that they should all probably want to just crawl into bed, they were still moving.

Just like time.

And do something or do nothing, whatever it was that would put Kara's life in danger would still put it in danger.

It would still happen.

"Kara…" Winn started to say.

"Oh, they moved Supergirl to a fancier sunbed set up." Maggie noted as she walked towards Alex and check on Winn too. "Sun room actually. Palmer and Ramone converted an old training room lined with a small dose of kryptonite into one in record time."

"Yeah, they do that a lot." Thea commented, looking concerned about the way Winn looked. Behind her he saw Kate move from the bed and walked towards something on the floor.

The small black box with the flight ring.

"Care to explain what this is?" she asked and Winn sighed.

He had to tell them the truth.

It was the only way.

* * *

Lena leaned over her kitchen counter, her head in her hands, just after taking a sip of her fourth glass of wine. She really needed it to process everything that's happened.

It had been a long day.

Her phone was set right next to her on the counter on loudspeaker, hearing the constant ringing before the tell-tale noise that marked the beginning of an automated voice mailbox system. She groaned and hung up before redialing the number.

It's been an hour and half since she got back to her place, an hour and a half since whatever those black tendrils were disappeared from the city.

An hour and a half since she's been trying to call Kara to check on her, make sure she's fine. But alas, no answer.

Her TV was on, tuned in to one of the few channels that had managed to restore its services. Lena wasn't going to lie, she knew that Kara being worried about a threat would mean that it was serious, but she didn't think it would be on the level that it was.

That people would be turned against each other, that global destruction was a sure thing. That heroes would be taken over and compromised.

Clips of Superman and Batman fighting were now being shown as Lena grabbed her phone, her glass, and the bottle of wine that she had opened as she settled down in her couch still relentlessly calling Kara.

She wanted to hear Kara's voice again, she wanted to take things back to how they were that morning.

Before reality decided to take them right in the thick of it.

Lillian Luthor wasn't particularly happy about their current financial situation that morning, and Lena could tell she had been dying to complain about Thunder Corporation's status with the threat of a corporate raid just around the corner. But Lena wasn't supposed to know that, so she didn't ask when she saw her mother.

Instead, she went with her to the storage docks where they met Westfield. Apparently there was a secret entrance there to an underground Cadmus lab somewhere there.

And by lab, t was more like a cramped up space with a few computers and scientists crunching numbers.

"We're downsizing spaces here since we are planning to move soon. However, we need to be careful with a few things, so we are taking time." Westfield had said before fully explaining that since the raids started, Westfield had to be careful and creative about moving a few assets and major projects around.

Especially since the DEO had very nearly reached Project 13 a few good times.

And thus, they had to make do with the make shift underground labs around National City. The main lab, the one that they were still using, was underneath National City University's own research labs. It suddenly clicked to Lena that she should have looked into that as soon as they had uncovered Thunder Corporations real nature since the company has made a few good donations to the establishment of their current lab buildings. The whole inauguration was made into some big spectacle about a year ago as it was a sharp contrast to how things were in Metropolis with Lex in the helm of a different corporation using science for murder plots instead of for the good of the people. Westfield went on to explain that to make sure their most prized projects are kept safe, they set up temporary shops around the city. They were more like satellite facilities, with one small room, such as the one they were in, being used for one particular purpose.

"We currently have a surgery outlet someplace underground in downtown National City and here we have the main computational and surveillance facility at the storage docks." Westfield had explained. "All, of course, are connected to the main lab we have at the university through narrow passages that run parallel to the sewage lines. Again, not exactly ideal, but we had to make do until everything is set-up for our move to the new main base of operations."

"Ah, so this tour's purpose is moot then? Showing me the old soon to be useless space is for what, may I ask, Dr. Westfield?" Lena had asked and Westfield chuckled.

"Oh, it's for a purpose, Lena. I assure you." Westfield had replied and turned to look at Lillian.

"It's a bit of a long walk dear, but we can't risk using the main entrance for the labs. Besides, we would have shown you what we have here sooner, but we were waiting for the right time. My source at the NCPD said that the entire department were being made alert to some foreign threat. I don't exactly know what he meant, but I assume that most of the forces that could be monitoring our activities are busy today." her mother had further explained and Lena made a mental note that the police department was currently compromised by Lillian Luthor's own agents.

The police and possibly a few other agencies that they should definitely look into.

Lena's phone finally died in her desperate attempts of calling Kara when the news featured Cat Grant's face on the television as she gave a heartfelt and rousing speech that moved not just the citizens of National City but of the entire world.

A message of hope.

A message that said they could rise through everything because they were all stronger together. Lena reached for the remote and tuned into Catco media's own news channel where they were currently featuring the new heroes patrolling the streets and helping the citizens of National City with their efforts to get their city back to its feet. Lena couldn't help but notice that Supergirl was missing in action, making her worry even more.

A part of her wished she could have just stayed in Kara's apartment the whole day. That their little idyllic weekend never ended.

That she said what she had let slip to Kara herself before she left, made sure she heard and understood just how much she meant to Lena. Just how much it would crush her if anything were to happen to her.

Lena poured herself another glass, not entirely sure what she should do next.

She wanted to reach Kara first. Make sure she was okay and let her know she was too. She had been putting off reaching Kate after her last update that she was safe because a part of Lena was already dying to know if Kara had been okay the whole time. That she wasn't compromised like Superman. That she wasn't hurt at all.

She got very little news on what was happening above for a good chunk of time while she was underground.

Westfield hadn't been lying, it truly was a great deal of a walk to the main facility. Lillian had decided to be left behind where they entered, telling Westfield that she intended to check on something else she was working on. Somehow, Lena had the feeling that the attack on L-Corp the other night was involved with whatever her mother was working on, but Westfield's incessant chatter about Cadmus' ideal goals and Lex's vision had Lena partially distracted to follow up on what it could have been.

She was curious, of course, where the whole build-up of his speech was going, and so she followed him.

By the time they reached the entrance of the main facility in what Lena had assumed was somewhere underneath the area that encompassed the research labs of National City University, she was half listening to Westfield and half regretting her decision to wear the pair of heels she was currently wearing. Sure, it made her look like she was dressed to kill, but at that point the heels were killing her feet.

The main facility had been split into different chambers inside, and Westfield had been going on and on about how he wanted Lena to meet someone special.

And then the grey alien with horns, the one who had Lena's memories, showed up in front of the two.

"Dr. Westfield. We've been waiting for you. And ah, yes, Ms. Luthor. I apologize for how our earlier meeting had gone. I had wished we could have met under better circumstances." Dubbilex said. He was well-spoken and gentle in his tone, completely different from what she had been expecting of him. He was even dressed in a purple and white suit, somehow giving her an image of a highly intellectual research scientist instead of a Cadmus thug.

Lena had to muster every ounce of strength within her to keep her cool and calm demeanor. The genomorph, who knew the truth about her involvement with Cadmus and what her true intentions were had been standing right in front of her, regarding her as an ally and a friend. She wasn't sure if she was heading for a trap, a part of her conscious mind was telling her that she probably was and that she might never see the light of day again.

But part of her subconscious was telling her that she could trust him.

Because if she couldn't, Lena knew, she would be dead in an instant.

They made their way through a secured hallway, Westfield explaining that while most of the main facility was heavily secured and monitored at the satellite lab where they entered earlier, this part of the research facility was on a different security circuit. "Everything here is isolated. Only Dubbilex and I are allowed access to security feeds, research data, and resources in the lab before us. Everything here is also kept on the server we have in the room. We cannot allow just anyone to reach what we keep behind the doors, after all. Only a select few know about what we keep here and we intend on keeping it that way." Westfield had said in a more serious tone.

"And I suppose I'm important enough to be allowed inside?" Lena had asked and Westfield smiled back at her.

"Ms. Luthor, like I said, I want you to assist with Project 14. We can't have you assisting with the project and not see what we're making now can we? You would need a good deal of information. When Lex was arrested, Dubbilex and I were the only ones working on Project 13 and with my involvement in all other Cadmus Projects, I'm afraid that my time with Project 14 would be very limited. There's still so much to be done, the war suit, our **Mark II**. I believe that having you work with Dubbilex personally will greatly benefit us in the end."

Lena nodded, "So behind that door…" she had started to say, wanting to ask if Project 14 was right there, at the very least the beginnings of the project. If what they wanted to reach was right within her grasps.

But Westfield shook his head. "To understand the current project of interest, we need to show you the predecessor. We currently have 14 safe and secure at the main base." he had replied as the three of them reached the outside door of the isolated chamber. "What's behind here is… well… shall we say, Project 14's brother."

Lena looked back at Westfield in confusion as he swiped his ID and entered his access code.

The door opened with a gush of cool air greeting them as they stepped inside the dark room. Upon Westfield's command, the lights that lined the corners of the lab had turned on.

To the right back corner of the room was the main computer. A few screens were pulled up including a security feed of the room, the main files regarding the project all pulled up with an ongoing message of analysis, a screen that flashed 'Transfer Complete', and a screen showing random security feeds from the city, monitoring any signs of a possible raid so that they could be alerted in time.

To the left back corner of the room was an old and empty gestation pod with a small monitor connected to it for monitoring. The pod was simply labelled 'XIII'.

In the middle of the two set-ups was an open sleeping pod that was attached to the back wall.

And at the center of the room was a soft cushioned pad that stretched out from the open pod with metallic levers supporting it. On it was a young man in an all-black suit, red lines running along the seams similar to how Supergirl's suit was designed. On his chest was a red symbol of the House of El, although Lena was sure that Westfield had no idea what it meant. His eyes shut beneath the wisps of slightly long black hair as if he was asleep.

He was connected to a few cable wires, some were attached to his pulse points, a few on his chest, but most were attached on his forehead. Glancing up on the screen, Lena found that they were monitoring his brain activity along with his breathing and his heart rate.

Lena was all but in awe, absolutely speechless at the sight before her.

He was but a young man, a boy, a teenage boy and Westfield went on and on about moving him soon now that everything was ready. How _it_ was their greatest success so far, their greatest creation.

She pulled her hands from her coat pocket as she reached out to him, holding his hands on his own.

Westfield was wrong, Lena had been adamant about, he was not an ' _it'_.

His flesh was warm in Lena's hands, his chest heaving up and down as he breathed normally without an aid of a machine, his heart beat pulsing through his veins.

He was flesh and blood and _alive_.

Yes, he was a ' _he'._ A boy, a teenage boy with a bit Lex's natural physical charms at an angle but who looked incredibly like a young Clark Kent.

Dubbilex had remained silent as Westfield went on about his proud pitch of how _it_ was their ultimate bioweapon… so far…

Because of who Supergirl was, because of the power she possessed, they stood a chance in making something even more powerful than the project she had right in front of her.

Project 13.

Lena had felt herself shudder at Westfield's words, at how he regarded the boy in front of her like it was all but an instrument.

She shuddered at the thought that this was what they all were desperately looking for, what all the monstrosity of projects they've developed and haphazardly discarded when they failed to succeed with had culminated in.

That was when Lena knew that they can't destroy them, no.

They needed to stop Cadmus, that was for sure, but destroy a seemingly helpless teenager as he slept?

This was more than saving Kara, or Superman for that matter. This was more than stopping Cadmus.

This was freeing _them_.

This was making sure Cadmus doesn't create more of them.

They can't destroy Project 13 and Project 14. No, that would be cruel.

They had to save them.

Lena had given his hands a hard squeeze as she recovered enough to regard Westfield once more.

But she never did get the chance to say anything. The power fluctuated briefly just and Westfield received an urgent message from Lillian Luthor to come see her.

Westfield excused himself, asking Dubbilex to answer any question that Lena had. He left with a promise of returning briefly to talk about Project 14. He never did, with the mess that followed that involved tendrils taking root and destroying parts of the facility they have underground, all Westfield could muster was a promise that they would talk about it at some other day but they have started and things looked promising.

So instead Lena found herself stuck in the lab with Dubbilex for the most part of the Blight invasion.

"Whatever you're thinking of accomplishing at the moment Ms. Luthor, I would advise you to reconsider." Dubbilex had said as soon as Westfield left and it was made clear from the feeds they have of the outside world that he wasn't going to come back anytime soon. "Taking him out of here with you is of no good option. It would only put your life and his in great danger. As for waking him up now, he's still not stable. The memory transfer had just been completed and he still needs to be monitored."

"By memory you mean…" Lena had started to ask.

"Your brother and Superman's." Dubbilex had replied without letting her finish. He had his back turned from Lena as he played around with the information on the screen. "Don't worry Ms. Luthor, the feeds in this room aren't recording at the time. You may speak freely. I can simply explain the missing feeds as a result of the disturbances outside."

But Lena didn't dare speak. She was still uncertain as to who or what Dubbilex was, where his loyalty lies.

Dubbilex pulled out a tiny memory chip from the computer mainframe and placed it in a small plastic case before handing it to Lena. "Everything you and your friends need Ms. Luthor."

"Why are you doing this?" Lena had asked cautiously as she pocketed the chip.

"I was made by Cadmus, true, but I am a sentient being of my own. In the five years of my existence, I saw the pain and cruelty they have spread." Dubbilex replied before turning to nod at Project 13. "He's special. He survived everything so far and is pretty much complete. Dr. Westfield and Dr. Luthor regard him as a monster, as a tool, nothing more other than a simple machine to do their bidding. But he isn't, is he? You held his hand, you felt his warmth. He is alive. Created, engineered, but alive. The circumstance of his birth may be different from much of all other beings but he, like all others, have a beating heart, a sound mind."

"Like you." Lena had managed to say as she realized what Dubbilex sentiments were. They were all created by Cadmus, they were all given life by scientists who programmed and specifically designed them to be the way they were.

But they had their own consciousness.

Their own lives.

They didn't want to live up to the name of a place they were created, they didn't want the circumstance of their creation shape them.

And Lena could understand to well the need to shape your own identity apart from what you came from, the family you never had and the family that shaped you.

"Really, all that needs to be answered is if we have a soul, wouldn't you say?" Dubbilex had then replied. "Do we have a ghost in the machine? In Project 13's case, who is his ghost in the machine? Who is his soul? His identity? Is he Lex or Kal-El? Perhaps he is his own person. Perhaps he has his own soul. One made from what makes both his progenitors good, fighting against the mistakes they both made. But soul or not, he has a heart. And isn't it that what all heroes are defined by, their heart? I edited his memories such that he could become his own person. So that he can find his own path and know his history so he could take in his own hands the decision to become who he was meant to be."

"You probed both my brother's memories and Superman's to program him based on it?" Lena had then found herself asking. "Just like what you did to me, and to Supergirl?"

"Yes." Dubbilex replied before pulling out separate a disc, "This is what was uploaded in his cortex, an edited version of all your brother's and Kal-El's memories. I couldn't let him see all… I decided to give him Lex's good qualities mixed with Kal-El's. He is his own, please believe me when I say that Ms. Luthor. You can't let anyone hurt him."

"Why do you trust me?" Lena had then asked, still wanting to shed light on Dubbilex's motives. "How sure are you I won't hurt him?"

"Because I see your thoughts, Ms. Luthor. You are good. You care for him already." Dubbilex noted. "Project 14 had just begun. They've finally succeeded in combining Kara Zor-El's DNA with something it refused to destroy. They will begin the aging process soon, slowly like they had done with Project 13 but with the mistakes they had learned from in making Project 13, I fear they would need her memories uploaded soon."

"Are they on this disc? Kara's memories?" Lena asked.

"That disc has the collective memories of Lex and Kal-El, of Kara Zor-El, and you Ms. Luthor, along with the edited memories for Project 13. That, however is not the main memory database. Westfield still needs it for Project 14 and he had me keep it at the main base. Do not worry Ms. Luthor, I assure you once more, he has not seen any of it but he had me made it under his close supervision."

"You've been to the main base?"

"Yes. It is where they had started work with Project 14."

"Where is it? The base?" Lena had pressed on.

"I could not tell." Dubbilex had replied. "We were taken there in the night when I least expect it. Westfield trusts me but he is still cautious. He knows I can probe the minds of those who take us so he has me put to sleep. But you have a GPS device on you…"

Lena took out the device Kate had given her and that was when she had a brilliant plan.

Westfield did say they would be transferring Project 13 soon.

She and Dubbilex had hatched their own plans as he showed her the files regarding Project 13, his test results, every single bit of data that they had collected about him. Lena had asked a favor of him, regarding the memories for Project 14 as they discussed everything that was done with Project 13.

"We need to stop calling him that." Lena had found herself saying after having updated Kate for the nth time that she was safe. Dubbilex had stopped her from sending a signal that gave away their location, afraid that someone form Cadmus might pick it up completely. Short bursts were deemed safe, however, thus Lena settled on using Morse code.

"Project 13?" Dubbilex had asked.

"It dehumanizes him. I don't like it." Lena had abruptly replied. "How about Conner?" she had asked after giving it a thought.

"Conner?" he had repeated.

"It's Gaelic. It means strong-willed, wise, and it also means lover of dogs but I think it suits him."

"Conner Luthor, then?" Dubbilex had asked.

"No, Kent. Conner Kent. If we need to give him a last name, let him have at least that. If Superman is half the man he is, then he should be able to look past the Luthor part of him. If not and I'm mistaken, I'm hoping we can find some other home for him. I'm sure Kara would welcome him." Lena had replied adamantly, feeling a twinge of guilt for still not telling Kara what she was up to. But she will, she had to. Lena knew at that point that the time for her to come clean about her activities, about her little game with Cadmus, was coming. She'll face the consequences of her actions with Kara then, but she would not, and she could never, let this boy grow up to be a Luthor.

"The Luthors end with my brother and I. Speaking of Luthors and the dark deeds they've done, do you have any idea what my mom is up to? Or for that matter, do you know Dr. Danvers? Jeremiah Danvers?" she had then added and asked.

Dubbilex took a deep breath, something Lena noted was definitely a sign of something she wouldn't like to hear.

But before Dubbilex could give her an answer the tendrils threatened to break through where they were.

Dubbilex held them off by creating a force field around them. Lena hurriedly ran towards Conner, placing the device safely in his hands before Dubbilex placed him back inside the pod with instructions to turn it on when they move given to Dubbilex.

For a while it had simply been Dubbilex fighting the tendrils taking root until they disappeared.

And when it was over, they barely had minute to discuss matters at hand, Westfield rushing to check on his most prized project.

All the genomorph could do was give her a warning about what was to come. About her mother's schemes.

And one quick probe, fast enough just to see the most recent memory in Westfield's mind that wouldn't alarm him had allowed Dubbilex to see the diabolical plots that he and Lillian Luthor had been planning.

As they parted, Lena kept thinking about the promise that she made Dubbilex keep.

 _Keep her safe_ , she had kept thinking in the hopes that Dubbilex would peer into her thoughts and get the message.

And the stern look on his face as Westfield ushered her out was enough to reaffirm her where her loyalties were.

Not to her, not to Cadmus, but to the two they wanted to both save.

Lena closed her eyes and opened them again. The TV kept flashing news updates of efforts in National City, of the good that had come out from whatever had happened to them in the first place.

There was a quick update showing a poor quality video of the heroes called Valor being chased by demonic looking aliens, and yet another from a distance showing Supergirl, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Valor charging whatever it was beyond the city limits followed by another video of the heroes returning, the Flash carrying Supergirl in his arms as they stopped for a moment seemingly discussing things before once again disappearing into God knows where.

The reporter flashed back on the screen, the words 'Supergirl Saved the Day?' flashed on screen as accounts from all over National City seemed to support the fact that Supergirl was one of the few heroes who kept fighting whatever it was that attacked them.

Another update came in confirming that it was an alien invasion and that both humans and aliens living on earth fought to keep this planet alive.

Lena's heart was filled with both pride and worry, her Supergirl had saved them all but from the looks of it she wasn't exactly in tip-top shape.

_Was she hurt? What happened? Why is she unconscious? Please, God, don't let her be…_

Lena fought every thought that creeped into her mind that suggested that something bad had happened to Kara. She couldn't accept it. She wouldn't let it be true.

But the fight wasn't over. No, not quite.

Because Lena remembered Dubbilex and his warnings.

Because Cadmus was up to something big.

And no, the fight was most definitely not yet over.

Lena scrambled on her feet to find her charger and a burner phone that Kate had given her just in case.

If she couldn't reach Kara, then she would do the next best thing.

She grabbed the burner phone and dialed Kate's number.

* * *

"What do you mean Kara may or may not die, Winn?! You need to give a sufficient explanation other than the future isn't settled!" Alex exclaimed. Winn tried to keep things as vague as possible as they tried to gather pretty much everyone that they can at the training room Alex and Kate used. White Canary and Mon-El were still doing patrols but James made it back to the DEO in record time. Winn simply had said that the Legionnaires briefly dropped by, the ring being proof he wasn't lying, and that they needed to talk about something that might happen at any time.

Barry was the last one who arrived as they all gathered, bringing the good news that they could travel back now. Cisco tried out is powers and was pleasantly surprised to find himself multiverse hopping for a few minutes to confirm that what Barry said was true.

Everyone had rejoiced upon hearing the news, everyone except for Winn who looked incredibly panicked as he realized something. "No, no, no. That's it! That is it! You all leaving, that's it!" he started spewing out which led everyone to look at him confused.

"We're defenseless right now. It's the perfect time to attack and if you guys leave… when you leave, something happens…" Winn went on, causing a look of concern from Alex. He was starting to sound like a raving mad man.

That is, until he explained what she found out, what Winn meant when he finally decided to tell everyone what he found out.

"No, you shouldn't have said that. Now we don't know if staying or leaving would cause it. What if we're the ones who bring Kara harm? What if she tries to save one of us when whatever it is that will happen, happens? Dude, time paradox!" Cisco then said unsure of what to do next. "We're influenced by that knowledge now. We can't know anything for sure."

"Look, all I know is we barely stand a chance if Cadmus decides to attack at this very moment. Succeed or not, it could cost Kara her life!" Winn desperately said just as Alex started pacing. Oliver tried to keep everyone calm, asking Winn to further explain what the Legionnaires meant.

"I don't know." Alex heard Winn reply. "All I know is that it's very much clear that they said something could happen to Supergirl. No, I mean Kara. Brainiac 5 said that though Kara may fall, there would always be a Supergirl."

Alex looked at Winn confused just a she saw Kate snap her attention to Winn. "What do you know about this?" Alex asked Kate, sounding quite irritated.

They just saved the day, the day was supposed to behave and not need any more saving.

Not for a while at least.

Especially not from a threat that could potentially kill her sister.

"Nothing, technically speaking." Kate replied and Alex simply glared at her impatiently. She took a deep breath and waited for Kate to speak.

"I'm sorry, considering we were in the middle of preparing for an alien invasion of epic proportions, my investigations have been limited to mostly where Cadmus is hiding Project 13 and the little raids that we could pull off." Kate replied before she sighed. "I don't know much of Cadmus' recent projects. We did pinpoint their source of income and we've been moving to cut the monetary flow. There were a few things regarding a possible **Mark II** for Cyborg Superman, a few missing Kryptonian bodies from Fort Rozz that were experimented on and… and the possibility that there might be a Project 14."

"Does that mean Project 13 is a failure? And you didn't think all of that was pertinent information?" Alex asked, doing her best not to yell.

"Again, we were kind of preoccupied and we didn't really have much about it to go on with. I'm not saying I didn't make a mistake and not loop you in sooner, but loop you in on what? We're still digging on information to understand things ourselves. Most of what we have are highly encrypted. Besides, Project 14, it's not a second Project 13 exactly, that much we at least now. Project 13 is functional and could be a real threat unless we reach it."

"Don't you mean destroy it?" Alex retorted.

"Alex, have you not seen the other projects, its predecessors? They're bioweapons. Living things, _'living'_ being the key word. Maybe someone decided to play God, sure, but I'm not destroying or taking a life. Not when I can save it. Besides, we don't even know where it is!"

"And what if it's what kills my sister?" Alex threw back.

Kate took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, how about we all calm down a little." Felicity then said stepping in between the currently on going screaming match.

"It's not yet finalized. That much I know." Kate then admitted following what Felicity had said and keeping herself calm. "Look, this whole thing with Project 13 is a bit of a sensitive subject. Really, at the end of the day, Superman and Supergirl are the ones with a say on what happens next. We're still trying to dig through whatever information we can from the past failed experiments. There are still a few unknown variables at play."

Alex was about to say something else but then Kate's phone started ringing. She looked unsure before excusing herself and stepping out of the room to answer the call. Alex watched as Kate left before starting to pace the room yet again.

Barry was quick to explain what he knows about time travel so far and what he's learned. "This mess started with me, I created the ripples. I know it might still be a selfish reason but I want to stay. We haven't made everything right yet and if Supergirl dies, she dies because of the ripples I've caused. Because of me. Because the Blight wasn't supposed to come now, not until the 30th century at the earliest but they came today. Kara's already done so much to save this earth against an invasion and she's done a lot to help us on our earth. I'm sorry guys, but I can't leave my friend until this is all over."

"Barry's right." Oliver replied with a heavy sigh. "I was there in the chamber… I saw her fall on her knees after giving it her all. We're still here because of her. We have the chance to return home because Kara stood her ground until the very end. I say we stay and keep an eye on things, make sure that the city is back to normal before we leave."

"But how long are we going to be here? We have problems we need to take care of ourselves." Mick then said.

"Until we known Supergirl is back on her feet and has the back-up she needs." Ray then replied and Alex couldn't help but feel thankful that Kara had found good friends like them…

…even if they were from another earth.

Kate stepped back inside the room with an unreadable expression. "Who was that?" Alex asked.

"A source. My source." Kate replied instantly before taking another deep breath and addressing everyone else in the room. "I think I know how Kara might die."

"How?" Alex demanded.

"Cadmus." Kate replied. "Their planning an attack. I think we need to loop J'onn in, this is a major thing. Also know where one of their last labs are."

"Where?" Alex followed up.

"Broken up into satellite facilities under National City." Kate replied.

"I'll go get J'onn." Winn offered.

"I'll check on Supergirl, make sure she's okay and ready in case we need her." Caitlyn then added.

"Let's meet back at the command center of this base in five. Bring in White Canary and Valor. We need to come up with plan for the coming attack." Oliver commanded and everyone agreed without question as they wasted no time to making their way out of the training room and getting ready.

They were all tired, sure, but the fight wasn't over.

Maggie lingered for a while as Kate chose to stay behind in the training room with Alex. Seeing as the two of them seemed to want to have some privacy, she eventually made her way out.

"They also have a mole at NCPD. I'm not sure if they still have one at the DEO." Kate then said once Maggie was gone.

"We can solve that problem easily." Alex then replied before she took in a deep breath. She wanted to release her anger, she really did, mostly because she wasn't particularly mad at Kate. Just a little.

They were all in this together now and Alex most definitely wanted to remain informed of whatever it was that was going on with Cadmus.

No more secrets.

"Who was it?" she found herself asking, her mind instantly forming an image of her dad working covertly to stop Cadmus. "Is it… was it my…"

"Alex, I don't know where your father is." Kate instantly replied, knowing where the question was going. "But I think we need to talk."

Alex gave her a questioning gaze but Kate simply shook her head. "I need you sharp. Half of us are still recovering with what happened. Hell, I still feel like I have a needles perforating my skull. We'll talk when this is over, I mean. For now, I think we need to focus on responding to whatever threat Cadmus sends our way."

"It's Lena, isn't it? She was the one who called?" Alex then said as Kate made an attempt to leave the room, her thoughts finally catching up to her. Because if it wasn't her father the only logical choice would be a Luthor.

She froze on her tracks before turning to face Alex. But her emotions didn't betray her at all. Instead she simply replied, "We're not done talking Alex. As a matter of fact, we have a lot of things to discuss. But I'm not discussing this with you right now."

"I want to know everything you know." Alex demanded and Kate nodded.

"You will." she simply replied. "But I warn you, sometimes the truth isn't exactly what we want to hear." she added, sincerity in her tone, before turning to leave.

And Alex believed her. She knew that it most definitely was not over.

* * *

The night before was spent with trying to get something as close to possible as a decent night's sleep for the rest of them, most of the heroes sticking around the DEO just in case they were needed. Alex didn't want to leave for Kara's sake that Maggie had relented and the two of them made one of the empty holding cells as comfortable as possible for some rest and privacy.

Alex didn't talk much, still worried about everything that's happened. Maggie should be used to it by now, like Supergirl, Alex had the weight of the world on her shoulders. And by world, it was mostly Kara. To make the world safe for her sister, give her as normal of a life as possible even though their reality is anything but normal. Maggie was sometimes annoyed by this, because sometimes it felt like Alex didn't have a life of her own. Everything she's seen her do is for Kara or for her family. There was a part of her that was worried because of it. The part that saw someone she loved be consumed by it all as she chased away all of the demons that haunted her.

But a greater part of her saw that Kate was right. They had so many similarities that Maggie sometimes feared for the worst. Especially when all she felt was the fear of losing someone she loved because of the responsibilities she chose to bear. But Alex knew when to stop, when to take a breath. Alex knew how to trust, that she wasn't alone even though sometimes she throws caution – and back-up – to the wind and rushes in head on. Alex did what she could because of the love she had for her family, for her friends, and for her sister.

She saw Alex for who she was. Someone who kept on fighting to protect the people she loved. Someone who cared about her sister, adopted or not. She could have resented Kara. She could have just dropped her because she was allowed to live her own independent life. But Alex never did. She stuck by her sister's side, never abandoning her.

And Alex still managed to find a way to balance it all.

Just sometimes, some things take precedent over other things.

So Maggie did the talking, telling Alex stories of her childhood at Blue Springs, nothing as interesting as sharing a bedroom with an alien sister for sure, but she's had her own misadventures. She wanted to see Alex smile, clear away a bit of her worries.

Maggie didn't really have a lot of friends but she had a lot of cousins. And while most of them lived far away, things always got interesting when they visited. She was telling Alex a rather embarrassing story at a pharmacy involving a rather awkward misunderstanding between one of her closest cousins and herself when Maggie decided to come out to her that seemed to finally got Alex to chuckle.

"That's mean." Maggie had said.

"I'm sorry, but why did she think… You know what, never mind. I'm pretty sure the whole thing was entirely stressful and the misunderstanding incredibly mortifying." Alex had replied as she tried to fight back the smiles taking over her. Normally, and if it had been anyone else, Maggie would definitely had been mad.

But it was Alex, and Alex was finally smiling again so she really didn't mind at all.

They both drifted to sleep sharing stories of their childhood and for a minute, things were okay. Everything was calm.

No threat came over the course of the evening as they later found out. James walked into the DEO with boxes upon boxes of donuts and carry-on coffee for everyone to power up as they went over the plans they made the night before. Kara finally woke up that morning, and though the boxes of powdered donuts with her name on it – James literally wrote 'For Kara Only' on one of the boxes – was calling out to her, Alex insisted that they run tests on her to see if she was strong enough to be Supergirl for the day.

They all decided to not let Kara know about what could happen to her. They didn't want it to affect much of her decisions, not that it could potentially have stopped her from being too careless and jumping head in to any battle. The Sun Room seemed to do an excellent job at getting Kara back on track. She wasn't a hundred percent on full power, no, considering Mon-El, Barry, Krypto, and Streaky – yeah, they kept the two pets around at the DEO much to Thea, Cisco, Felicity, and Barry's amusement – were still running faster than her. But she could fly. She was indestructible. And she was still punching a bit harder than Mon-El so all in all it was okay.

Alex gave it about a seventy-five percent back to normal rating.

"Alex, you don't need to baby me too much. We did it, we saved the day." Kara had said finally being able to sink her teeth into a donut and Kara's eyes lighted up that Maggie couldn't help but laugh at how quickly she ended up gulping down the rest.

"Sadly, Little Danvers, it's not that simple." Maggie answered for Alex, finally breaking the news. "We received news of a possible Cadmus attack while the city's vulnerable."

Kara's face turned from amused and happy-go-lucky to serious and minutes and the team brought her up to speed with what's been going on.

After that, Kara pretty much spent the rest of the morning pacing around the DEO. She had wanted to fly and go see Lena, make sure she was okay, but Alex said that they needed her around in case of any sign of trouble. She had to remind Kara that Kryptonite Man was still hanging around after all.

Kara settled on having a phone call with her girlfriend somewhere private where no one could eavesdrop – because seriously, Maggie could share Kara's sentiments about the DEO freaking out that she's dating Lena Luthor – to check in on things while Oracle patched in on the main computers helping them locate all the satellite labs around National City and the main one underneath the university as what Kate had informed them the night before.

The teams had been roughly preassigned the night before. Most of the DEO agents were going to address the issue of shutting down the labs. They saw movement from the university by suspicious looking vans but Kate had insisted to let them proceed from moving what needed to be moved from the university.

"My source said that they're moving something of great importance form that lab to the main base. If we let them take it, we can track the signal from one of my devices to where their main base is. We can close in on Cadmus and end them once and for all. It's a risky move but I'm all for the bigger payoff at this point." Kate explained. "Besides, we still have the other satellite labs to simultaneously target, shut down, and clean up."

"So we let them get whatever it is out before we shut the main one down? Shut everything else down?" Maggie asked. "How did you get a tracking device inside in the first place?"

"I have an insider I can trust." was all Kate replied before Oliver took the conversation to make sure that everyone knew where they were headed and that the main teams with Earth-1's heroes would focus on whatever Cadmus would throw their way.

And right on cue an alert popped on the screen about trouble all around National City. An army of what looked like Cyborg Supermen, more like Cyborg Flying Alien army really since about half of them looked like they were of different species, were flying around town wreaking havoc.

"Aren't those…" Alex started to ask as she noted the black uniform that about half of them were wearing.

"The missing Kryptonians from Fort Rozz we failed to capture." J'onn growled as a reply. "Looks like you had good intel after all." he added as he regarded Kate.

"What are we waiting for everyone? It's time to suit up." Oliver said and everyone kept on moving on.

"Wow, this Cadmus group's really evil, huh. I mean, didn't we already deal with robotic zombie aliens yesterday? Granted the Blight weren't exactly zombies, but the death and decay part of the picture was clearly there, so they might as well could have been." she heard Cisco ask and somehow Maggie couldn't help but share the same sentiments as he did.

* * *

They didn't exactly have much to go with other than the fact that Winn picked up signals that corresponded to kryptonite radiation from all the cyborg aliens, particularly the Kryptonians. No one had seemed to have any other idea about how Cadmus managed to not kill the Kryptonians by infusing them with kryptonite cores until Cisco had pointed it out again.

"They're dead." Oliver had heard him say through the coms. "All of them are. They Frankensteined them all. I think we now know what the isotope they stole from L-Corp was for."

"And why they stole those nanochips in the first place." he heard Alex grunt but Oliver was too preoccupied at the moment to give his two cents about anything as he sent one of his trick arrows flying at a Cyborg Kryptonian whose hands started to break open to reveal a mechanized gun inside.

Cadmus was taking the whole evil thing to a whole other level for sure.

The heroes scattered around the city as the citizens sought out refuge. They had just endured one alien attack, and here they were enduring yet another.

They've talked about this before last night. With the attack of the Blight ended up victimizing both humans and alien refugees, everyone in the country, heck, around the world was forced to work together for the better and put aside their differences. The Blight didn't discriminate with their victims, but the help given didn't discriminate either. Besides, M'gann, Valor, and Supergirl were all aliens who kept fighting for earth until the end even if Superman and J'onn got blighted. And at the end it was Supergirl who saved the day.

It was the perfect time for Cadmus to strike. Things were on a temporary standstill, and tension among citizens was at its lowest since everyone basically just wanted to get their lives back to normal. Having clear cut cyborg aliens coming to attack National City at its lowest just after an invasion could incite panic and hysteria. It could shift the power to those who share anti-alien sentiments, the camaraderie shared by a community rebuilding its home easily tossed away. Chaos would be everywhere.

They barely hit the streets when Cadmus sent their transmission all over the city, igniting the hatred that they knew existed against the alien population.

And Oliver had to hand it to Felicity for stopping the transmission and leaking a few of the Cadmus files they've recovered during the raids that pointed to their more heinous activities, including human and alien experimentations.

Soon, what would have been a terrible riot that had overtaken the streets was turned into cooperation from all of the citizens as they tried to put a stop to this madness once and for all. If anything it minimized the number of targets they needed to stop at all cost, especially when they came for blood and murder.

The teams were currently split, and while the heroes had their own battles and corners of the cities to protect along with two to three agents for back up, the rest of the DEO marched towards the satellite labs.

Oliver wished he could have done more to help, that they could stay longer, but with this fight he hoped that they would cripple Cadmus enough to tip the scales in favor of the good side.

The Green Arrow turned around just in time to see one of the Cyborg aliens fall from where he sneaked up on him on top of the apartment building he was on. Behind his attacker was Ray giving him some sort of salute before focusing his attention to another oncoming threat.

There were only about a handful of cyborgs across the city, by Oliver's calculations, there's enough heroes to stop them.

And more than enough back up if Kara needed their help.

* * *

Going on hand to hand combat against an alien was tough, but Sara already knew that. What proved to be more difficult was going up against an alien whose hands have been severed and replaced with mechanical limbs that open to reveal metallic knife-wielding tentacles.

For one thing, the crazy mad scientists from Cadmus were surely creative. But they must have some sort of crazy nightmares to come up with ideas like that and actually execute them.

Or you know, they must have some serious issues.

Sara was right in the middle of downtown National City. Traffic was low that day, with the destruction that the city had to endure from the attack yesterday causing a temporary halt on a lot of major activities around the cities. It also helped that about half the citizens of the city were still trying to recover from being blighted, there were thankfully only quite a few people on the streets.

From not so far away, near National City's own financial district, she could hear the roaring flames from Heatwave's heat gun toasting some of their enemies alive... _Or technically dead?... undead?_

_At least someone's having fun._

Sara, on the other hand, was just really pissed.

No one had the right to do whatever Cadmus had done to the poor soul right in front of her. Alien or not.

No one had the right to make anyone else suffer like this, to treat them like objects, _specimens_ that they could just take apart and put back together the way they saw fit.

Cadmus was lucky that she didn't exist in this earth and that perhaps the Sara Lance of Earth-38 was nothing like the assassin that she was because if that were the case, she would personally hunt each one of them down until this all ends.

Kryptonite Man, the Cyborg aliens, all of it would stop and cease to exist.

"Guys, if you hit their core reactors they become unstable. Make sure you hit it in a secluded area though, they sort of self-destruct and while the explosion is mostly contained, we don't want shrapnel hitting any innocent bystander." she heard Barry say through the coms, breaking through her thoughts and making her focus on the fight right in front of her.

"And where exactly is the core, Flash?" she managed to reply through gritted teeth having just dodged a small missile from the launcher attached to her current foe's other hand.

"Chest area. Strike the heart." Caitlyn answered for her.

"Would it really matter if they're already toasted?" she heard Mick ask.

"It would. We could save whatever we could and study the components back at the base. We had that with Cyborg Superman, Hank Henshaw, but we couldn't retrieve that much info. There was some sort of mini self-destructing circuit in the cortex that stopped us from learning much about them." Alex had answered.

"So, try to remove that too then?" she heard Thea ask through the coms.

"The explosive thing-y is right underneath the medulla oblongata by the way." they heard Supergirl say.

"Whoa, hang on there. You hated biology." Alex then remarked with a chuckle. "How do you remember that term?"

"I didn't hate the subject, I hated the teacher. And that wasn't biology, that was physics. Besides, I was entirely fascinated by the differences between our physiology and the terms we used for similar things, so…" Kara had then explained and Sara could all but imagine Supergirl grinning.

"Guys, focus on the fight. Witty banter and exchanges later." they heard Batwoman sternly lecture them. She sounded exhausted, but then again, who wouldn't be.

They were only human at the end of the day.

But it was their heart, their will to fight and see justice done that made them heroes.

No, even better.

It made them legends.

* * *

Kara felt sick.

Not because her powers weren't a hundred percent back, no.

But she was sickened at the thought that Cadmus could actually be this cruel.

That they could stomach all of the things they have done.

Of course Kara also felt angry because of the same reasons.

Because of the fact that someone out there had these sort of machinations in their mind.

Kara had just _deactivated_ the last of the Cyborg aliens that Cadmus had sent out to play up in the skies, because apparently they had one who could fly. Supergirl was almost sure that it was one of the Kryptonians who were part of her uncles army but she was never really given that much time to think.

It started from a feeling.

That sickly nauseating feeling when she felt the nearby presence of kryptonite.

Kara didn't have to look behind her to know that Kryptonite Man had made his reappearance. That it was time for round two.

Up in the skies, Kara had no allies. Ray, J'onn, and M'gann were all preoccupied by their own battles. It was why Kara knew she had to win this one not by her strength and powers alone but with her wits too. They've battled before, and even their combined forces couldn't subdue Kryptonite Man, it was time for a change in tactic.

Kara kept a safe distance away and started with heat-vision as she flew up higher into the atmosphere. She knew where Kryptonite Man's core was. Her goal was still to disable it.

She knew she couldn't risk the fist fight, Alex would call her out on being insane.

But she knew she needed to get near enough to disable it too.

So for now, Kara had decided she would try and by time for her to figure it out.

She kept sending blasts, her irises burning hot the entire time as Kryptonite Man met each of her attack with a blast coming from his hands. At one point he broke of some of the crystallized rock that started to stick out of his arms, a result of his mutations from their last battle, and started hurling it towards her direction.

Kara met each of them with her freeze breath before they started falling to the ground, some she simply blew away. She would send a powerful blast from her heat-vision towards Kryptonite Man's direction before obliterating the falling debris with the same superpower.

That's when she had an idea.

Sadly, that was when Kryptonite Man also ran out of patience and started rushing towards her.

They ended up exchanging a few blows before Kara felt herself losing some of her abilities in jolts, the sickening presence of kryptonite calling her to fall ill each time and remain powerless. As soon as she recovered a good distance, she would blast him back up into the heavens, past the clouds even, just so she could keep him away from National City.

If the Cyborg Supermen-like aliens self-destructed when their core reactors were destroyed, Kara could already predict that Kryptonite Man's destruction would neither be pretty nor safe.

The battle went on for a while, Kara almost tuning out the conversations happening in her earpiece, ignoring Alex's very own warnings of 'Do Not Engage'. She had the shot, she had the chance, and she was going to take it.

This was the safest way of stopping him once and for all. And Kara knew, she had to be safe, and she intended to stay safe at all times too.

She was going to be careful.

Kara saw her chance when she managed to hit Kryptonite Man hard enough to disorient him a little. She took a deep breath and blow out chilly arctic air to freeze his hands, covering much of the Kryptonite as she could before hitting them with her heatvision, most of his kryptonite hands being obliterated by the process.

Kryptonite Man still had kryptonite near his core. Kara knew she had to be careful about that as she flew towards him. Using X-ray vision, she pinpointed the already damaged isotope core that kept him somewhat stable. She had her hands fisted, punching halfway through whatever it was protecting it. She wrapped her hand around the core, crushing it as she finished the attack, half punching Kryptonite Man all the way through, halfway using her momentum to throw him up higher into the atmosphere.

Kara gasped as soon as she managed to successfully pull out her hand from his body. She watched Kryptonite Man flying upward before self-destructing without his isotope core to stabilize him.

All as she perceived herself falling down, her body failing her to do much of anything as she felt a warm wetness coming from the side of her body that had been left expose from her attack.

She didn't see it coming, Kryptonite Man thawed out the ice with one weak blasts from whatever remained of one his arms, a glowing green stump that had one sharp protruding spike.

A kryptonite shard now plunged deep inside her ribcage.

And Kara found that the last thing she saw was a cloud of mist that oddly reminded her of Krypton's own doom.

The same image that started her very journey as a hero.

* * *

Cat Grant wasn't entirely sure what she would make out of it. The whole city was being thrown from one hell fire to another with the attack they had endured yesterday and with the attack they had to endure today.

There was so much to be done, stories to be covered, and truths uncovered. In fact, Catco was at its busiest as the fighting went on in the streets.

However, all of it seemed to have stopped. All the world fading away.

The image of some red blur caught her eyes and Cat walked towards her balcony, eyes transfixed at the heavens as a green mist emerged from beyond the clouds. A loud boom echoing throughout the city, commanding everyone's attention to the scene before her.

She couldn't have been the only one to have witnessed it after all.

Cat felt speechless, and something akin to dread and loss was gripping her as she saw the tiny red dot falling from the skies, shooting down right at the heart of the city, all at a speed that was too impossible to stop.

They're hope falling from the sky.

And Cat found that she couldn't quite breathe.

Because this can't be it. This can't be the end.

She didn't come back to watch Supergirl die, much less write her obituary.

Cat heard a second _boom_ from somewhere in the skies and as another blur of red came zooming into her views, she figured, perhaps all hope was not yet lost.

* * *

Alex wasn't sure what had happened exactly, and even in the coming days if anyone would ask, she still wasn't sure.

Maggie had helped her subdue one of the cyborgs behind some alley way when they heard a loud explosive sound spreading through the sky, a green mist forming and expanding everywhere before it completely dispersed.

And right in the middle of the city, for all its citizens to see, she saw the very image she had dreaded.

Kara was falling straight to the ground, no attempts at flying at all. Alex wasn't entirely sure how she still managed to move her limbs, she just knew she kept running, running, running straight to where she could predict Kara would land. Over car hoods, past bystanders entirely too transfixed by the scene they were witnessing.

She wanted to, she wanted so badly to just scream Kara's name as she ran as fast as she could but she was out breath.

Not form running.

No.

But from the quite sobs taking over her as she stared in horror of her sister falling from such a height at faster speeds than she could run.

All so that she could catch her.

She saw J'onn flying past her, M'gann right behind him. Mon-El was speeding through from somewhere to her left, while the tell-tale signs of Barry's signature lightning streaks came from her right, the speedster running faster than everyone else.

A roaring sound of a motorcycle or two came from nowhere as she saw Guardian speed through while Batwoman pulled up urging Alex to get on.

They were all racing against a clock, with time running faster than they could all move, just so that they could reach her.

Reach Kara.

Because that was the only thought that Alex could think about.

To reach Kara.

To save the hero too busy saving the world to care for her own being.

* * *

 

Jess had come in to check Lena if she needed anything before she went out for lunch, that was when the fighting began. From the view in Lena's office they could both see the fighting going all around them. Lena stood transfixed behind her desk, the safety of the supposedly bulletproof glass separating her office and her balcony in front of her. Jess had remained a few feet away not entirely sure if she should repeat her question again.

Although Lena figured that Jess was too afraid to ask again.

Even if she did, she wasn't really paying attention anymore.

Her eyes had been glued on Kara the entire time. She was fighting an army of cyborg aliens created by Cadmus, by her mother no doubt, left and right. To an ordinary observer, it was Supergirl's finest hour, but to Lena, well, she could see the subtle differences in her movements.

Like something wasn't quite right, as if the fight with the Blight had taken a toll on her.

And then Kryptonite Man showed up, and soon he was dancing with Kara higher and higher into the skies, past the clouds as they fought, one resounding sound after another as hits landed while they exchanged blows.

Lena watched with bated breath even when her eyes struggled to keep up with the movements of the two opponents. All she could make out was a blur of purple and green and a blur of red and blue going higher, higher...

And then she and Jess heard the explosion echoing throughout every corner of the city, a green mist filling the sky before it disappeared.

Lena felt her heart fall from her chest at the sight of a red blur – Kara's cape entangling with her body – falling from the skies at a rate so fast that Lena wished she could stop time just so she could reach her somehow.

She felt herself gasp, at the sight of it, a hand covering her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.

She felt like falling herself.

Gravity had come to collect.

Because she was Icarus flying too close to the sun.

And the toll she had to pay was Kara.

The fear, the despair, the desolation was overtaking her. Overwhelming her senses. It was just all too much.

Every bit of strength in her body left her at that moment, her knees growing weak, the blood leaving her face.

And before she knew it everything faded to nothing but black.

* * *

It was like time had stopped.

And Barry would know, he was the fastest man alive after all. He's had the chance to move so fast that everything else seemed to stay still.

The irony was that everything had been so fast, too fast, for the fastest man alive to even comprehend.

One minute Barry was stopping a rogue cyborg alien from attacking a child who wanted to get a glimpse of one of National City's visiting heroes and the next he had managed to successfully achieve his goals.

Then came the jarring sound of a loud sonic boom.

Barry dropped the mechanical limb he had caught in his hands when he stopped the walking Cadmus experiment and gazed in horror as the heavens turned a sickly color of green before the light of day fought to break through once more.

But relief didn't come, no.

Not when from up above the sky, past the clouds, he saw the familiar red of Supergirl's cape as she came crashing down to earth.

Guilt, fear, horror, sadness, all of it. Barry felt all of it.

The heaviness of the weight of the world doubled on his shoulders at the thought of how badly he messed up and how much he wanted to right things in whatever simple way he could now.

He ran, as fast as he could, or even faster than ever.

 _Run, Barry, run_.

He could hear the words echoing in his head as his mind landed on one singular thought.

He needed to be there, he needed to catch Kara before she fell. He was the only one who can actually make it.

Barry was the first to arive at the spot that Kara seemed to be heading towards. He was feeling antsy, edging from one side to the other of the spot where not so long ago he could remember battling two of Supergirl's own villains, Livewire and the Silver Banshee, when he had first accidentally crossed earths. He wasn't sure if he wanted to cry or scream or shout.

Just that he wanted to catch Kara and run her to the DEO as fast as he could. Fix whatever it was that caused her to fall in the first place. Because no, Kara was his friend, he wasn't going to let her…

No he won't…

He won't let anyone else he cared about die.

Kara was a good twenty feet away from the ground. Barry clenched his teeth, fighting back the tears. His arms were waiting for her, he braced himself for impact and already mapped out the quickest route back to base when he heard another loud sound from the distance and pass him. Barry found himself falling backwards after that.

He was faster than a speeding bullet. That was for sure.

A man in a blue suit and red flowing cape arrived just in time to catch Kara in his arms, his feet still hovering a few good feet from the ground. The light of the sun behind him obscured Barry's view for a moment before he found himself standing up, still looking upwards at none other than the Man of Steel.

Soon Barry managed to make out his features. The same impossibly blue eyes that Kara had frantically ran over the body of the limp figure in his hands. His jaws clenched as his eyes zeroed in on the spot. He looked slightly squeamish too but he had a certain look in his eyes that told Barry he was going to power through whatever it was that was making him feel ill.

Because in his eyes Barry saw a mixture of urgency and fear. Of guilt and anger. Of desperation and despair.

And soon Barry found his eyes following Superman's gaze, finding the pooling dark stain that tainted Supergirl's suit, just at the side of her left rib cage.

Everyone around him were in awe. Superman barely said a word as he lifted off, up, up, and away. Barry managed to fight through the gust of wind that blew out in all directions, standing up as Superman shot up into the sky, Supergirl in his arms.

And all Barry could do was hope that Superman had a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, there it is the big reveal! I can't keep it a mystery forever now can I? But that's just part 1, for now ;) Although I'm pretty sure I've let part 2 slip already so there is that…
> 
> Again, next chapter will be up as soon as possible! Please bear patience with me. But on that note, in the New 52, Cyborg Superman is Kara's dad (Zor-El) who survived Krypton's doom and was created by one of the evil versions of Brainiac, I used that as inspiration for the dead Kryptonian and other alien species army (Cadmus is sooo evil in this fic that they decided to do some recycling in the most despicable way)… but… well… it's not over by a long shot…
> 
> UPNEXT: The conclusion to our crossover saga and a shift in gears as the final showdown with Cadmus looms near… Also, guys, we still have like 9 chapters left, you don't really think something's gonna happen to the lead when there's like 9 chapters more to go, right?


	22. Battles Won, Battles Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, been really busy with work. Here is chapter 22 featuring a party, multiple shovel talks, Barry being an awesome friend, and Lena ignoring J'onn and the other DEO agents as she makes her way to Kara without anyone stopping her.
> 
> So yeah, happy days for now. Except for that evil and ominous Cadmus POV :)
> 
> Enjoy :)

Lena woke up a few hours ago on her couch, Jess frantically trying to figure out what to do the entire time she was out. She didn't ask anything, on why Lena could have fainted, and while she's sure certain thoughts were all but forming in her assistant's mind, she was thankful that Jess wasn't one who would actively pry.

She's fought the urge to down her bottle of wine once she heard of the news about Superman carrying Supergirl off into the distance, catching her in time before she hit the ground. The menace that was Kryptonite Man was gone, and the news were now tuning in on figuring out Cadmus, their cause, and their actual motivations. Some popular theories were that L-Corp may be involved or at least the world's most notorious alien hater, Lex Luthor.

But Lena really didn't care much about that. She wanted to know how Kara was doing.

She cancelled all her meetings for the day, too shaken up about the sight she had witnessed. She tried calling Kate but she didn't answer.

It would seem that the DEO and their allies were still busy with whatever Cadmus had left behind in their wake.

All throughout the day, news about the attack, about the heroes, about Supergirl getting rid of the main bad boss of the attack and once again saving the day were kept on a loop with constant updates, but still no word on what could have happened to Supergirl.

It was around midnight when Lena found herself pacing her office, her inner battle with whether or not she wanted to down the contents of her wine bottle or empty her scotch decanter was its tipping point. Somehow the ridiculous argument she was having with herself was all she could do to stop herself from going mad from the lack of updates. And at that point she would have even settled for updates from the camp of evil that had caused hurt and pain to her beloved.

Because surely they would gloat right? At worst she would have to endure Westfield's disappointment from the loss of a _specimen_.

Sure she hated Westfield's favorite word, but if Superman was back at Metropolis and they've caught wind of it – because there's no way Superman would leave his cousin, right? – then one way or another Cadmus would have a reaction and if she didn't get her news from the right side, she would get it from the other.

For a little while Lena's thoughts went on to think about Project 14. Project 13, no, Conner, would have Superman. Whether he accepts him or not – and Lena would fight like hell to keep the boy alive and safe and away from Cadmus clutches – he would have Superman to look up to. He would have Clark Kent's memories.

But Project 14?

What would happen if Supergirl disappears?

Heroes rise and heroes fall.

But Supergirl was more than that for National City.

And she's more than that to the rest of the world, especially with all that has happened the past few days.

She was hope.

And Lena was trying to keep her hope alive, she was. But life had left her down far too many times than she can count.

All she could really think about was how the last time she saw Kara was in her apartment before the invasion of the Blight. How the last time she spoke through the phone when Kara checked in and reassured her that she was fine, the DEO just had their hands full, Lena still choked on those stupid three words.

Because what if the worst had happened? What if she's lost Kara for good? Did she even hear her that one time the words had slipped away and she was busy flying away to save the world? Did she even know?

Lena found herself collapsing down her couch, head in her hands as she took in a deep and shaky breath.

The wine won't do it. The silence was too maddening for her.

_Scotch it is._

Lena was just about to pour herself a drink when she heard the sound of something akin to a rush of wind and lightning all wrapped into one. The sound had been accompanied by something bright and a blur of red. Lena dropped her decanter as she looked up with a gasp. Glass shattered everywhere and scotch was all but wasted all while in front of her was a very apologetic 'The Blur' – or so Catco insisted on calling him.

"Oh my gosh! Sorry. I didn't mean that, you know, to scare you." he said, raising both his hands up in surrender to show Lena he meant her no harm. "Uh, the name's Flash by the way."

"What do you want?!" Lena exclaimed, trying to quiet her heart.

He nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Ms. Luthor," Flash started to say, using his vibrating voice before he sighed and relaxed his shoulders. Lena must look like a mess, or at least he could see the fear in her eyes, because the softness and gentleness of his voice as he spoke. He wanted Lena to be calm.

Lena braced herself for the worst. If he was here within a flash – _Is that why he calls himself The Flash? –_ she knew without a shadow of a doubt that there's an update with Kara.

And a part of Lena already thought of the worst.

The Flash stood up straight reached for his cowl to unveil himself as Barry Allen. A part of Lena already knew, of course she did, whether or not Kara told her. She knew that the Green Arrow was Oliver, and the Felicity was Overwatch because of their offer to help them with Cadmus. Sara Lance and the grunting arsonist don't even wear masks. Really, this was just a formality.

It was a sign that Barry trusted her.

And Lena couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed by it. Another hero trusting a Luthor. Barry may not have a good idea about how much that meant, but somehow Lena was coming around her initial annoyance of him – he had an uncanny ability of interrupting good moments with Kara.

"Lena, please." Lena said as she took in a deep breath to calm herself and reign her emotions in. "I… I saw her fa- I…" she started to say but she found that she still couldn't quite come into terms with the view of Kara falling from her skies to her possible death after once again saving the city.

She felt Barry's hands on her shoulders to steady her and calm her down. She didn't even realize she was shaking badly as she tried to quiet down her sobs. "Superman took her to some ice fortress or something, I don't really remember what it's called. She got hurt. Badly." The Flash started to explain, his hands dropping to his sides before he started to fidget a little, cracking his knuckles, balling his fists as he paced back and forth in Lena's office. He seemed restless, like his rather hyperactive, which helped in calming Lena down in a way. It was a good distraction as a part of her subconscious automatically started taking notes at how Barry's abilities seem to affect him overall as a person, down to his habits, like when he was nervous.

Barry sighed. "And I was supposed to catch her, take her to the DEO, you know, this government agency of sorts. Supposed to be super-secret but you know Kara's Supergirl and all so…" he went on and Lena noted that Kara told her friends that she knew.

Which was another thing Lena took comfort in.

"But Superman came zooming in and he flew away with her. We regrouped and got the update on the whole fortress thing from Guardian, he said that if Superman's taken her then that's the only place he'll surely go. He knows where it is but with the clean-up and all, we decided to not go. If he needed help, he would ask us. Besides, when I said he didn't look too happy, no one wanted to be the one to distract or disturb him." Flash summarized. "Apparently there was a piece of kryptonite from Kryptonite Man that broke off and embedded itself somewhere in Kara's thoracic cage. She was losing blood rapidly and Superman's got some sort of advanced technology thing he could use in his fortress to help Kara."

"Is she still there?" Lena replied getting more and more antsy. She knew that the injury was serious and while she wasn't entirely sure if she hated Superman – she did know that she respected his effort to saving the city in some capacity, she's annoyed about his self-righteousness though – or if a part of her was still hurt and was still blaming him for worsening Lex's decent into madness because of their once upon a time friendship, but she would be willing to forgo the past, let it all go, heck even hug him if he would let her, if he managed to save Kara's life.

"That's why I'm here." Flash replied. "Superman just brought her back. He was giving instructions to Alex about monitoring Kara for kryptonite poisoning. He would do it at the fortress but there's an emergency and apparently your brother pretty much broke into it once. He didn't want to leave Kara there all alone in case Cadmus sends someone after her."

Lena nodded. A part of her knew that Cadmus wouldn't even hesitate if they knew where the fortress was because they needed Kara, but then she's pretty sure her mother could find one demented way or another to bring her back to life as their puppet so perhaps Superman's decision was for the best.

But it was a comforting thought that Lex decided not to tell the locations of this place to her mother or Westfield, it was the only explanation Lena has for the place still being secured from their forces.

"I left as soon as I can. I figured you'd want to hear some news. Some of us have been indisposed for some clean-ups and emergencies to address elsewhere – something about a bio-terrorism attack in Gotham – I know how much you care for Kara, so…" he said with a shrug.

"I didn't realize you were quite observant." Lena commented as she tried to buy herself time to process everything. The news about Gotham could be why she hasn't heard anything from Kate, she wasn't particularly paying attention to news elsewhere.

"Part of the job. Not as a hero, well, of course as a hero." Barry started to ramble. "I'm a CSI." he then explained. "But that's not important. I'm here to take you to her."

"To Kara? Where?"

"At the DEO." Barry replied.

"I don't think they'd want me there, Mr. Allen." Lena replied.

"Barry, call me Barry." he said with a shrug. "I'm not gonna lie, most of our friends who stayed behind were currently locked up in a training room somewhere and still arguing about that when I left, weighing pros and cons and all. But see, I think it's unfair if you don't get to see her. The world's been keeping you apart with all this nonsense and I kinda know how that feels. I've been here for weeks, and away from someone who means the world to me. You haven't exactly seen her since the invasion and I witnessed firsthand how it was driving her crazy. I can only imagine how you're holding up, especially with Kara facing danger head on."

Lena breathed in a sigh of relief and chuckled. "Are you saying you're breaking me in, Barry?" she asked, truthfully just thankful that she could see Kara soon.

Plus it could be fun to see how the supposedly non-existent government agency would react to her sudden presence.

Barry simply shrugged and offered his hands to Lena.

And before she could even realize they were running around the city, and up a few buildings, with such speed that time felt like it stopped still.

All so that she could finally make it home in Kara's arms.

* * *

J'onn wasn't entirely sure why the team of Earth-1 heroes and James had locked themselves up in a training room and have been arguing on what to do with Lena Luthor. Sure, Kara had made it clear that they were friends but for some reason they all feel obliged to let her know that Kara was okay.

Alex was half worried and half tired from being worried all the time. She was hanging out with her detective friend, Maggie Sawyer, somewhere in the base, as she seemed to be comforting her through all of this. She's been checking in on Kara every five minutes since Superman returned her to them and she finally seemed to have settled down. He understood of course, Clark didn't say a word to them with what happened and all they had to go on was Barry's explanation of what happened. Alex had become the definition of anxious.

But J'onn also couldn't help but be happy that Alex had found someone she could depend on like Maggie, especially through times like this. She seemed to have a level head, and understand Alex's need almost telepathically. If anything, Maggie felt like a good addition to their ragtag team, their family.

J'onn had been with Winn, monitoring activities around the city. They didn't want any other surprises. M'gann volunteered to do some rounds around the city while Mon-El rested. The two had agreed to take turns to keep watch while Supergirl recovered from her injuries in the Sun Room.

Everything seemed quite, much to J'onn's appreciation. They really needed a break from all of the things happening around them. Rifts in the time and space continuum spitting out people from another earth, alien invasions that weren't supposed to happen until the thirtieth century, and the constant threat of Cadmus were just a bit too much at the moment. They barely have had any time to breathe.

So imagine J'onn's disappointment when all of a sudden every agent in the base stared making noise, gathering round the center of the base with weapons raised as Barry Allen had returned – he didn't even realize he left – with none other than Lena Luthor in his arms.

He settled her down and Barry raised his hands, trying to calm everyone down. "Guys, chill, I can explain." he said.

J'onn walked straight to where they were. He was about to speak when Lena Luthor marched right up to him, fire in her eyes, and cut him off. "Where is Kara?" she demanded to know.

The question completely catching him off guard.

Because Lena just asked where Kara was.

Kara not Supergirl.

"You all seriously need to calm down. Put it all down, now." Alex commanded as she rushed towards where J'onn, Lena, and Barry were. Behind her was a very amused looking Maggie Sawyer.

"Alex?" J'onn then asked as he turned to face her, entirely too curious at the possible explanation for all of this.

"Winn grabbed me as soon as all this…" she started to say pointing to all the raised guns because a Luthor was in the DEO base. She seemed better, traces of concern still lingering behind her eyes, but overall definitely better and calmer. J'onn was happy about that, sure, but at the same time he really just wanted to know what was going on.

And he wasn't exactly known for his patience.

 

J'onn gave Alex a look. "I have the paperwork, we can handle that later. But yeah, Kara told her." was all that she gave as a reply. "So putting away weapons now is a smart option, unless you want to invoke the wrath of Supergirl. Don't know about you guys but I saw her angsty teenage years play out. Not all of it was pretty."

The other agents warily put their weapons down when J'onn gave a nod to reaffirm what Alex was saying.

"I can take you to her." Alex then said, turning to Lena and the female Luthor looked incredibly relieved at the sight of a calm Alex Danvers.

"I'm coming with you too." J'onn then said. Whether they liked it or not, he was going to keep an eye on her at the very least.

Because seriously, what was Kara thinking?

True, he could just take a peak in Lena's mind, figure out what's going on from her. No better opportunity presented itself after all, expecially if Lena was indeed involved with Cadmus. The temptation was strong but J'onn decided to hold off on that. For one thing, J'onn knew that if she was indeed involved with the illegal experiments, his exhausted mind would see those nightmarish memories flashing right before his eyes and he wasn't sure he was strong enough for it. But on a more pressing thing, at least to J'onn, behind the façade of command and control that she was putting on, he could see that Lena was genuinely worried for Kara too. Tempting as it may be, a distraught mind that's gone through the wringer of an emotional hell was just too much noise of thoughts and memories that he might not be able to handle to process in his current tired and beaten down state. 

But that didn't mean he wasn't wary of her. He couldn't just let his guard down, years of deception and lies taught him that.

And he did make Jeremiah a promise to take care of his girls.

Then again, Alex seemed to be comfortable with this situation, and he trusted Alex above anything else.

So he settled on just keeping an eye on things for now.

A very close eye on things.

They left Barry and Maggie behind – they wanted to come follow but J'onn was adamant they stayed put, especially when they were essentially just going to be prying – as they made their way through the halls. Alex explained to Lena the extent of Kara's injuries and how Superman had to essentially help her using tech they don't exactly have here on earth. Apparently he was stabbed once with kryptonite too, against one of his mercenary rogues, and while the wound wasn't as serious as Kara's, only the fortress could help him heal.

J'onn simply observed as the two talked. Alex - yes, the very overprotective sister to one Kryptonian girl Alex - seemed relax around Lena. J'onn could tell that she was still trying to put up a wall between them but that she was coming around to the Luthor girl. J'onn might even risk it and say that Alex was slowly trusting Lena for some reason.

And Lena simply nodded and asked questions.

They eventually reached the Sun Room. It was a hexagonal room almost identical to the kryptonite training room they had in the bunker, after all it was supposed to have the same purpose. But the walls were now lined with photon emitting particles that Ray Palmer and Cisco Ramone managed to put together. Yellow light were coming from corners of each side as a safe low level of radiation were being emitted from them, strong enough to simply match the same levels experienced on a typical sunny day on earth. In the middle of the room was an elevated area surrounded with glass, a medical bed right in the middle. It was like an isolation room of sorts equipped with medical technology to monitor Kara's vitals and provided anything they would need in case of an emergency.

They stopped outside as they entered the room. Kara's bed was slightly inclined up. Above her head were a few lamps that emitted the same amount of radiation she took from the sunbed. J'onn remembered the argument on whether they should equip it with an actual bed or the same glass-like one that could also irradiate Kara's body from beneath. Cisco and Ray settled for giving it the most comfortable bed and pillow ever and lined the frame with the radiation panels instead.

Kara's suit was off. Caitlyn pointed out that healing would be so much more efficient if she had more of her skin to actually directly absorb the radiation. Instead, Kara was wearing a sports bra and some boy shorts.

"She still hasn't woken up but if you want to go up to her you can. Superman said she just needs to regain some strength. She's lost a lot of blood but there's no trace of poisoning. Her cousin seemed to be able to remove the piece of kryptonite completely with whatever he had back in his fortress, he was mostly worried that it might've splintered off inside though. Other than the bleeding, it's really just the damage done to her cells after being exposed to kryptonite for some time. It's just a small amount and Superman thinks it could actually work for the best. Apparently exposure to small dozes helped him resist its effects a little bit better than before. It still weakens him, but it's not as bad as the first few times." Alex went on as she stood next to Lena, the Luthor heiress seemingly hesitant as she lingered outside where Kara was. J'onn saw Alex reach out for Lena's hand to give it a squeeze and an encouraging smile. "I know how much she means to you," she whispered and J'onn could barely pick up what she was saying, "I could see that much. And I have about a million and one questions on what on earth is going on, but I know Kara deserves a break. I reckon you too. Go be happy, be there when she wakes up."

Lena nodded and took a deep breath before taking the step forward to reach Kara was. "What was that about?" J'onn asked Alex but she simply shrugged. "Alex, I told you I need answers."

Alex simply nodded back to where Lena was next to Kara. The CEO leaned over to plant a kiss on Kara's forehead and held her hand. She was murmuring, for the most part, in between quite sobs, half chastising Kara for being reckless and half wishing she would wake up soon and chase away the storm clouds hanging above their head. She knew she was safe, but it was different to know something and see it for real. To see Kara be Kara.

And J'onn was sure that he could make out Lena say that National City needed Supergirl.

That her friends and family and even Catco needed Kara Danvers back.

"And I need you too." Lena went on. "I need you, all of you, Kara Zor-El. So when you wake up, I'll be here, I'll be waiting for you to come back home to me."

Alex nodded towards the door, asking J'onn to step outside with her. He hesitated for a minute, but he could tell from somewhere deep inside of him that Lena Luthor wasn't there to assassinate Kara.

If anything, from what he's heard, it sounded like she loved her.

"I'm guessing you trust her?" J'onn asked as soon as he stepped out. Alex took a deep sigh, worry still lined her face but she was a little bit more relaxed.

"I trust her enough." was her reply. "She's done so much already, you know. She keeps on trying to aid Kara, she keeps on trying to save Supergirl. I think she really just wants to live outside the shadows her family cast. Something still bothers me tough but Kate's the only one who can answer that. Truth be told I don't know how to feel about it if it's true. But if there's anything I know, anything I've proven so far, what she feels for Kara is true."

"She cares about Supergirl?"

"She cares about _my sister_." Alex then corrected. "Kara told her about the whole thing just a few days ago, and though I don't exactly know how it went down – we haven't really talked about it – I think Lena's known all along. I'm just piecing it together J'onn, but it's what makes the most sense. I think she figured it out in the time they've known each other and she's doing what she can to protect Kara too. I, at the very least, respect that."

J'onn didn't press on about what Alex meant. A Luthor caring for a Super was a little too much for him to process, truth be told. Too much history, too much bad blood.

Kara was still weak, her body taking its time to heal. The next hour and a half or so was spent by him and Alex taking turns on checking in on Kara to make sure she's okay and that she's stable. J'onn, of course, was mostly trying to check on Lena too, make sure his suspicions and fears weren't proven true and that she wasn't there to cause Kara harm.

"Maybe you should learn to let go of what you know of their history too? Especially since they're not the ones who made it." M'gann said when she came to see if he was okay. "The circumstances you were born in doesn't make you who you are, at the end of the day it's the choices you make with what life throws at you that does. Just because she's a Luthor doesn't make her a bad person."

J'onn grumbled, realizing what she meant as they walked the corridors leading to the Sun Room.

She was, after all, a White Martian but that didn't mean that she was evil either.

J'onn sighed, silently conceding to her point. He was going to apologize to Lena for his not entirely warm welcome when they stepped in but instead was left speechless by what he saw.

"Oh." M'gann let out.

Kara had most definitely woken up…

…and was currently busy pulling Lex Luthor's sister in a rather passionate kiss.

"Why do I feel like I missed something?" J'onn then silently asked himself but Kara seemed to have heard as she pulled away from Lena, hands automatically covering her lips as her cheeks flushed a deep red.

The Luthor heiress looked away, blushing although looking a little bit smug.

J'onn cleared his throat. "We'll leave you two alone for now. Supergirl, when you're better... we need to talk." he had said not entirely sure what else there was to say. "And Ms. Luthor, I suppose I should say welcome to the family." he added sounding a bit awkward as he turned around and left with M'gann.

"Well that was an unexpected turn of events." he heard her say with a chuckle and all J'onn could do was grumble.

"I should probably tell Alex her sister is awake." he then muttered all while he couldn't help but wonder if Alex knew that her sister and Lena Luthor were a thing.

Now he fully understood.

Lena didn't just love Kara, she was in love with her.

And it would seem that Supergirl was in love with a Luthor herself.

M'gann let him go as he tried to find Alex in the base. His thoughts still on Kara and Lena. Not that he has anything against it, really, if anything it made him think about how something true and beautiful could bloom out of the harsh realities of their lives, their complicated family history with Lex and Superman being enemies and all.

Their situation is all but a tangled mess, but J'onn could somehow feel that what they felt for each other was true. Maybe that's why despite his suspicions and reservations that a Luthor was in their base, he could feel himself softening up to it. Maybe that's why Alex trusted Lena enough too.

He eventually found Alex at a training room with Maggie and for the second time in a row walked into something he shouldn't have stumbled upon.

It was nothing compromising, not that Supergirl and Lena were doing anything scandalous other than being together either. In truth it was entirely sweet. Maggie was still comforting Alex, telling her everything would be alright, when Alex leaned in for a chaste kiss.

And really, this one should have been obvious to J'onn, the detective was basically in their base all the time, always by Alex's side.

"I definitely missed something." he told himself. Both Alex and Maggie seemed to have heard him say it as he caught both of their attention.

Alex smiled shyly as she tried to say something, walking towards J'onn, but J'onn simply shook his head and smiled, a silent conversation going between them.

"I'm just glad you've chosen wisely, Agent Danvers, with who you chose to give your heart to." he said. "And while I still have my reservations, I'm starting to think you're sister has chosen well too."

"Ah, so Kara's awake." Alex then said with wide eyes as she processed what J'onn knowing about Lena and Kara entailed. Maggie simply chuckled behind her.

"The two of you come find me when Kara's feeling well. We've been busy with so many other important matters that it's clear we need to catch up on a lot of things."

"Right." Alex said awkwardly.

J'onn simply smiled, surprised at how the day's turned out as he walked around the base to process everything.

He was going to require an incredibly long and incredibly awkward talk with the Danvers sisters to fully catch him up but he was just glad that his girls were happy.

* * *

Cat was on fire for the last twenty four hours. So much has happened in such a short amount of time from the invasion to the Cadmus attack. Snapper was running his story on what they've found so far about Cadmus and its ties to the Luthors, how L-Corp was adamant with it stance that it had nothing to do with things. Thunder Corp, however, was taking hits after a leak from an anonymous source revealed its ties to Cadmus and how it was in fact owned by Lex Luthor himself. Stocks in the company started to plummet and Ted Kord of Kord Industries seemed to have taken this chance in buying the company outright and liquidating its assets, cutting Cadmus' source of income.

The race was on between Catco's _Tribune_ and _Catco Magazine_ against _The Daily Planet_ in securing exclusives from the heroes that fought for National City to Lena Luthor. Thankfully, the later agreed to yet another interview with Cat Grant. Cat would have wanted the interview scheduled that morning but the CEO sounded tired, requesting that the exclusive be done the following day instead. So far she's beating Perry white and Lois Lane in the race, so all is still good.

She didn't see Kara in the office or James until late that afternoon. James' excuse was that he had an emergency to take care of while Kara simply said she had been sick. Cat figured that the two of them definitely deserved to get some rest, especially in Kara's case as Cat believed that falling from sky and quite possibly nearly dying after saving the day should count as a legitimate excuse for being sick.

Besides, her former assistant did manage to secure an article or two featuring the exclusive interviews of the visiting heroes of National City – although all the article revealed was that they were friends of Supergirl who owed her one – and writing an article on how the real heroes of National City were its citizens, supporting each other through the crisis that took its city and never letting fear get a grip of them.

It would seem that Kara Danvers was the real hero for finding time to write such a short but lovely piece, despite the number of drafts Cat Grant demanded from her to get the story in perfect shape.

It wasn't until that evening that Supergirl graced her balcony. Cat was sipping on her favorite drink, looking over the city and contemplating about the craziness that had happened the past two days.

"You never take a break, do you?" Cat asked as Supergirl landed.

"The city always needs saving." Supergirl replied with a shrug. "But I am happy to have friends who help me. Also make the most of the time I have whenever things are quiet."

Cat smiled. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of the visit, Supergirl?"

"I wanted to thank you, again, for helping keep National City together. Like I said, I'm happy to have friends who help me and I'd like to think you're one."

"I'm honored." Cat replied. "And as you're friend I'd like to tell you that you nearly gave me a heart attack with what happened yesterday. You need to be more careful."

"I will." Supergirl replied. "I've been given quite an earful by a lot of people already."

"Like your girlfriend?" Cat asked coyly and Supergirl blushed.

"I… Well, yeah, but… that's not…" she started to stammer. She cleared her throat and recomposed herself, trying to regain a bit of the confidence that she usually wore along with the crest and her cape. "That's private."

Cat took comfort that there was one topic she could use to get Supergirl all mushy and rambling but she figured that the hero needed the break. She wouldn't push.

Although her curiosity about Kara and Lena's relationship given what Superman and Lex's were like was constantly getting the best of her.

"I had to try." Cat replied with a shrug. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Supergirl. Don't be a stranger." She then added when she saw Supergirl slowly levitating up.

"I won't be." she replied. "Goodnight Ms. Grant."

Cat simply waived back and watched as the Girl of Steel flew away with a light smile, a deep sigh escaping her lips.

All's well that ends well.

But somewhere deep in her gut she could feel it wasn't the end just yet, not by a long shot.

* * *

Needless to say, it was the same old routine for Alex Danvers the following day.

And by same old she meant the usual convoluted mess that comes with being right in the middle of a crazy convoluted plot that involved aliens, illegal experiments, her sister's love life, you know, that sort of thing that comes with being a DEO agent and sister to Supergirl.

The morning started being the definition of awkward. Everyone at the DEO was having some sort of whiplash with Lena Luthor hanging around her girlfriend, the one and only Supergirl. Theories were all being spread about how Lena managed to get Kara to fall for her, what her motives were, but one glare from the Girl of Steel who was starting to feel better was enough to quiet them all down.

Then there was their private little talk with J'onn. Kara was quick to come to Lena's defense even before J'onn could speak but J'onn managed to but in, calm her sister down, and say that she believed her. "I just wish the two of you were more honest with me. Or for that matter, keep me in the loop a little. I don't mean to pry into your private lives but it would be nice not accidentally walking in on you with your, you know, other half. Keeping it out of the work place as much as possible would be nice as well."

Alex ended up exchanging looks with Kara who bit her lip, the two chuckling before shaking their heads and pulling J'onn in for a hug.

Debriefing was weird, needless to say,with the Earth-1 heroes were all but planning to return home soon. Alex was gonna have to get used to not having all of them around. Really, if it wasn't for Winn's idea of having one decent get together at Kara's before they go, they probably would have already left.

But Sara thought it was a good idea, if anything, it allowed for one more day of rest for Supergirl with all the heroes still present for an assist in case of an emergency.

Everyone seemed to have gone their separate ways after that in preparation for the party. That and some of them do have jobs.

Which meant Alex had to stay behind at the base and do hers.

It was late afternoon when Kate swung by the DEO again. "So Lena Luthor is helping us now?" J'onn had asked her as the three of them stepped into a private conference room.

"I work with who I work with." Kate replied with her usual air of defiance. "Besides, she has been for a while now. Who do you think has been providing me with half the information I've gotten so far? Without Lena's help, it would take us ages to stop Cadmus. To have prints of their labs based on old LuthorCorp facilities, or intel on the stolen parts used to make Kryptonite Man. It was wrong of me not to tell you, sure, but it could have broken the rouse and put her life in more danger. After all, last time I check, didn't one of your agents become compromised by Cadmus? I had to keep the number of people who knew to a minimum and I couldn't have stopped her." she conceded looking apologetic mostly to Alex. J'onn gave her a stern look and Kate shrugged. "Have you met her? There really wasn't much I could do about it. She wants to stop Cadmus for her own personal reasons, my help or not, she'll do whatever it takes. If you're worried that she's playing double agent and actually works for Cadmus…"

"That's not what I'm worried about." J'onn then said cutting in. "She's playing a very dangerous game, Kane, the two of you are. A dangerous game that could put more lives at risk."

"Cadmus would have taken whatever they needed from her willing ally or not. I'm not saying our decisions were perfect or right for that matter, but we make do of what we have." Kate replied.

Alex sighed. She felt incredibly uneasy with all of this.

_Why do I keep finding out delicate secrets that Kara should know and would upset her?_

"Please tell me you're planning to tell my sister soon." Alex all but demanded and Kate looked back at her quite torn.

"It's not my secret to tell, Alex, but I am pushing Lena to do just that." Kate then replied. "In other news though, Lena saw the insides of the base we just raided before it was emptied. We have a few files with heavily encrypted data that Oracle is currently working on. It has the same encryption as the files we gathered back from the failed projects we saw in the other labs. It could take a while."

"And the main base?" Alex then asked.

"We're tracking movements but they haven't settled down anywhere. They could be taking a longer route to throw us off. I don't like waiting, Alex, but this is the best course of action we have. They're moving Project 13, and while the time _is_ ripe for us to get him, the fact  is that there is a Project 14 in the main base and that's what keeps me still for now. We need to retrieve both of them."

"Hang on, Project 14?" J'onn then interjected not entirely too happy.

"Yeah, about that…" Kate started to say. She looked hesitant but she did promise Alex the truth.

And the truth was what Alex got.

* * *

Lena's been to a lot of parties and galas and balls. She's accumulated many shinning and shimmering moments of ball gowns and champagne. She was used to the numerous guests and the polite chitchat that she had to learn to endure earlier on before whoever it was that she was talking to would reveal their intentions.

She was a Luthor after all, and all those big extravagant parties, they were all just for show, all for private meetings, secret deals, and keeping the prestige of the now tarnished Luthor name.

So really, the whole gathering at Kara's apartment still felt so knew and strange to her. There was warmth to it, not just the usual high society gossip or intrigues of the elite. Not the backdoor meetings and dealings she's come to expect with the Luthors.

Technically speaking, holding the party at her penthouse or Kate's place would have made the most sense. They had the loftier spaces but the somewhat gothic architecture of Kate's and the minimalistic modern interior designs of her own place failed to compare to the warmth that Kara's humble apartment provided.

The last two days was spent with fear and worries, of being afraid to lose Kara, of infiltrating Cadmus, of facing the possibility of having to lose the love of her to consecutive days in a row. Lena actually allowed herself to enjoy a little as Kara's Earth-1 friends all welcomed her into their fold.

Well, not without the initial threats.

Lena technically ate death threats for breakfast thanks to her family. She was used to it, used to her life being put in danger because of threats to Lionel when he was still alive, and because of Lex, first thanks to his illegal activities and then because of his rather elaborate plans of supremacy.

But she had to admit that her not exactly ideal dating life – one that mostly just involved one night stands and short term affairs – never prepared her for facing multiple shovel talks in one seating.

Mostly from super-powered meta-humans and rather brilliant if not lethal humans.

All delivered far from Supergirl's earshot that morning while she was being debriefed by the Green Martian that she had heard Kate fondly call Martian Manhunter.

The first was Barry. "I know I said I understand how you feel and all and I know you won't, but if you break Kara's heart, I'll be here in a flash." he said with a chuckle.

"We may live in different earths but I can vibe her faster than Barry can run." Cisco had then said. "And I'm not just saying that to gloat about my awesome powers."

"What he's saying is we're glad you're finally part of our merry little band, the truth is out, and tension out of the way. And while Kara's not someone from our earth, she is part of our family. So hurt her and we'll raise hell." Caitlyn had then followed up.

"And we know you're a genius, but so am I. I can always try and match your wits." Ray had said, deciding to add his unspoken threat, however, the charming warm smile on his face made it hard for Lena to think he was serious.

"And I know I'm just a hacker but I took down corporations and government officials just with my skills, so beware." Felicity had then added.

Mick had then followed. "I don't really think I need to make my threats obvious."

"As for me, death and alien brainwashing won't hold me back if you make Kara cry." Thea had then said, keeping the ball rolling.

Lena nodded looking around waiting for Sara to make her threat but the assassin simply shook her head. "I know you're not going to hurt her."

And when Oliver's turn came up he simply shook his head. It was at that time that Kara had stepped outside the conference room where she was talking with J'onn and Alex, her sunshine of a girlfriend all bubbly and happy. Oliver had stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Maybe in our world you don't have a weakness, but now I know that in this place you do. You're a treasured friend Kara, but in behalf of this world's Oliver Queen, one who was once a friend to our lovely Ms. Luthor here, if you break her heart, I'll be forced to teach you a lesson or two. And I don't think I have to repeat to you that my lessons involve arrows."

Kara had looked at Oliver in confusion. "Love's a two-way street Kara, all of our friends seem to think that Lena's going to hurt you and break your heart. I have a feeling you might break hers too. Besides, I think everyone's done a good job at telling Lena that she'll have to face their wrath if she hurts you." he then had explained.

And truthfully Lena had found the whole thing endearing and amusing. It was a good thing to note that so many people loved Kara as much as she loved them.

What she didn't expect is for them to welcome her with such warmth after that. They talked to her as Lena not as a Luthor, something she could barely remember was even possible.

They talked to her and regarded her in the same light Kara did.

And she has never felt as happy as she did in that moment.

The party was in full swing. With the holidays coming up, they used that time to decorate Kara's place as well, which of course made her girlfriend all but giddy. The whole thing was such a sharp contrast to what she's been accustomed to and it was something that didn't go unnoticed to Kara.

Barry took to decorating the walls, while Cisco and Caitlyn argued about the decorations for the tree. Kara started hanging up stockings while Ray and Thea went out to grab some food. James and Winn took their opportunity to give Lena their version of a shovel talk which ended up sounding like more of a joke than a threat with Winn's constant rambling.

"I know we have our differences, Lena, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of a doubt for Kara. I'm hoping we can move forward getting along well." James had concluded and Lena had to admit, she admired the show of humility and the olive branch coming from James "Jimmy" Olsen, a sharp contrast to the strained tolerance he showed her during Thanksgiving.

"I would like that very much." Lena found herself saying in response and James smiled.

Maggie was chatting with Oliver and Felicity when Kate arrived to join them. Lena found herself making her way towards the group while Kara excused herself to answer a call from Clark Kent. "You know, I think I've met you in our earth before. It's been taking a long time to figure out where." Oliver said, addressing Maggie.

"Oh, really? So what was I in your earth?"

"A detective." Oliver said with a smile. "In Star City too, before moving to Metropolis I think. Our Maggie Sawyer arrested me once for an altercation. Last I heard she moved to Gotham. Really the only reason I know is that she was with our Kate Kane when I visited the city."

"Huh, interesting." Maggie noted.

"Yeah, I think she was… well… you and um…" Oliver then found himself awkwardly mumbling.

"What on earth is wrong with you?" Felicity then asked.

"I'm guessing we were dating is what Ollie wanted to say." Kate replied.

"Engaged actually." Oliver then corrected.

"Well that's definitely interesting considering we once were in this earth too." Kate then found herself saying much to Felicity's own surprise. "You know, speaking of dating, I'm pretty sure our Oliver once introduced us to a girl he was dating named Felicity. Sort of looks like you too. She owns a tech company in New York."

"Now that's just eerie considering we were engaged too." Felicity then said looking a little spooked.

"Maybe some things are simply inevitable in all earths for our, what did Barry call it? Doppelgangers?" Lena then provided as an explanation.

"I suppose." Oliver muttered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Alex then asked as she entered the apartment. Lena offered to help her put the boxes of pizza she had and set it up on the island in Kara's kitchen. She noticed some strange exchange of looks between Alex and Kate and figured it was the perfect opportunity to ask what it was.

Everyone else seemed busy or enamored with their own conversations after all.

And Kara was still out of earshot.

"I do hope you're okay with Kara letting me know." Lena had said, not knowing how to open up the particular conversation with Alex.

"It's her secret." was Alex's response. She sounded a bit aloof which threw Lena off guard. She was sure Alex was warming up to her.

"Is anything wrong?" she had asked.

"I don't agree with all of your decisions, or the moves you make Lena." Alex started, hinting on something that Kate did warn her about. That she was going to tell Alex the truth and it would seem that the DEO agent was finally all caught up. "And while I have issues on that, while it's making me guarded on what game you're playing at, I see the way Kara looks at you, how she lights up. I've never seen her that happy and I've seen every shade of every emotion on that girl's face. You make her happy in a way no one else had and I know she makes you happy too. That's why I'm not thrilled to hear you're playing with fire. I guess you can say I'm feeling protective of my sister, but I think I might be growing to be protective of you too." she went on in a low tone.

Lena simply nodded in response but it would seem that Alex wasn't done with her little schpill. "I guess it's because I see the way you look at her when you think no one's watching. I like you Lena, I think you're a decent person and Kara pushing to give you the benefit of the doubt from the start has allowed me to see that. But I want you to understand, blood or not, she's my sister, so don't make the mistake that I would let you get away with hurting her, ever. Whether physically or emotionally, I'm not letting you break her heart. Make one wrong move, or if so much as one tear runs down her cheek because of you, I don't care who you have on your side to protect you, heck I don't even care if Kara would still protect you, but I will…"

"I'm guessing I'll be in a body bag or worse?" Lena interrupted. "I know the risks of what I've decided to do Alex, but I'm doing it for Kara. I'm doing it for myself too. I hope you can understand that."

"I hate that I do." Alex replied. "But it's keeping me on edge, I'm not going to lie, and I don't like that feeling. I hate having to hide something form Kara or lie to her but I do understand how delicate the matter is. Tell her soon."

"I will." Lena reply. "But how do I even start? Where do I even start?"

"Just start with the truth Lena." Alex replied, sincerity and understanding in her tone, and Lena could see so many emotions flashing behind her eyes. She was worried about Kara, that much was clear, but she seemed genuine when she said that she was starting to care about Lena too.

"What's going on?" Kara had asked dropping in on Alex and Lena as soon as their conversation was over.

"Oh, your sister was just giving me the shovel talk." Lena said with a shrug, recovering from the seriousness of her talk with Alex.

"Alex!" Kara had gasped and Alex seemed to have relaxed after that.

And despite the threat looming above their head, despite the heaviness of the secret she's carrying for her part against their fight with Cadmus, Lena found herself finding comfort that little by little the truth was coming out, that it wasn't as drastic and bad as she would have thought it to be.

That maybe she and Kara could make out of this situation after all.

And that comforting thought was enough to let her enjoy the seemingly rare happy moments they've had before they once again start fleeting.

Because it finally felt like she had a family as she was wrapped around Kara's arms.

* * *

Kara wasn't sure how the night started with decorating her apartment for Christmas became the second coming of what she had dubbed 'the shovel talk lunacy'. Just as she was getting settled into the drastic change, it turned into the most competitive game night of her life before becoming one serious 'who dated who' talk show like drama.

Really it started when she finally found herself reunited with Lena after Kal had called to check in. She had almost invited him over but with recent events and his own superhero gig keeping him busy, she figured it would be best not to ask him to come over just yet.

Especially since she hasn't figured out how to tell his cousin whom she was sent on earth to protect that she's dating his archnemesis' little sister.

Boy was that going to be a fun conversation.

Feeling rather protective of Lena, Kara found herself sticking to her side all night. She already knew that her Earth-1 friends gave her a rather elaborate speech of how each one of them would make her pay dearly if Lena ever hurt her. With Alex joining the party, Kara realized that James, Winn, and heck even Maggie still haven't given Lena a speech. Sure, she found out that she had been wrong and that Winn and James had attempted to do just that earlier without her knowledge, but there was still Maggie, and while she wasn't sure if she would give Lena her own version of a speech in support of her sister, Kara figured she should be ready to defend her girlfriend's honor just in case.

What she didn't see coming was that Kate Kane would walk towards her and give Kara the very same speech. "Remember Kara, I do know what your weaknesses are and I know ways of evening out the field." she said with a wink much to Lena's own annoyance.

It was good to know that Lena was rather protective of her as well.

Kate and Alex seemed to have disappeared for a while after that to talk about something. They got back in time for the first few rounds of charades before moving onto Pictionary. The huge numbers meant that there were more members in a team and more teams too, and Kara was sure that at the end of it everyone wasn't entirely sure which team they were on, they just wanted to win.

Things essentially got rowdy and Ollie and Kara had to reign everyone else in. She couldn't really expect Alex to help in cases like that, especially since her sister was the definition of competitive.

Soon, Sara offered a compromise of talking about a few 'juicy' topics, most of which essentially revealed Winn and James' own competition to win Kara's heart, much to Lena's own amusement. Although Kara was certain that at the beginning she was just mostly jealous, Sara pointing out that the best girl won in the end made her feel a whole lot smug. Winn ended up admitting his own crush on Superman at the end, something that Kara wasn't entirely aware of. "When did this happen?" she found herself asking.

"Oh you know, during the whole 'Pink and Periwinkle Incident'." Winn replied which only prompted more questions.

And upon the mention of pink and periwinkle kryptonite, Kara's ears turned red, Lena seemed to have blushed a little as well, the memory of what prompted their first kiss still lingering in both their memories.

Kate let out a chuckle as Kara animatedly tried to steer the topic clear of that. Felicity then noted what she had been talking about earlier with Maggie, Kate, Lena, and Oliver about how things seemed to still have happened similarly in both earths.

Ray said something about his cousin yet again while Felicity brought up the whole 'who dated who' topic.

Apparently she was engaged to Oliver once and that Oliver dated both Sara and her sister.

Sara dated an assassin from the League of Assassins, sister to Damien Wayne's mother.

Earth-1 Kate had been engaged to Earth-1 Maggie the last time Oliver had checked, although whether that's still true is unconfirmed.

Their earth's Felicity dated Oliver as well, although she was sure that Oliver still hasn't met their earth's Laurel Lance, or Sara Lance for that matter.

Kara heard about Lucy fawning over Kate much to James' own discomfort and the whole topic about James and Lucy was brought up.

And then Alex grimaced and Maggie scowled when Winn brought up Maxwell Lord. In retaliation, Alex brought up the fact that Winn dated one of Kara's own archenemies.

Which Barry remembered as his first time here on Earth-38.

Everyone else shared stories about their own misadventures after that, light chatter about their own activities as heroes and with keeping their cities safe. Lena rested her head on Kara's shoulders as Kara wrapped her arms around her, the two settling down on her couch as their friends animatedly talked.

So much has happened in just a matter of days. Sometimes she can't help but think at how just yesterday she had shared one of her first kisses with Lena in her kitchen, or for that matter how she was freaking out to Alex because she nearly kissed Lena for the first time. She can't believe that just a few months ago, Alex was in her kitchen trying to strike up the courage to come out to Kara.

It's like she simply blinked and nearly missed all of what was right in front of her.

Lena's arms wrapped around Kara's as she pressed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about, love?" she had whispered.

"Nothing." Kara replied and laid a gentle kiss of her own on Lena's forehead.

Kara found herself happy, simply happy.

She didn't even realize it but she did what Cat had said a few months ago. She dove and now she's found everything she's ever wanted and more.

But life wasn't as simple as that. Truthfully, Kara was incredibly thankful at the peace and quiet that the city was enjoying that very second. Supergirl wasn't needed to be anywhere else other than by the side of the people that she loved and she's finally found a time for herself to breathe.

She almost lost her life, she knew that much. Waking up in the Sun Room all dazed and confused with Lena teary-eyed next to her drove the point home.

She remembered looking at the sky, as the dust settled from a self-destructing Kryptonite Man.

She remembered thinking about Krypton and how her home had met its end.

And she remembered the feeling of freely falling from the sky. Remembered how she had feared that she would never see her friends and family again.

That she would never see Lena smiling again, feel her lips on hers or the warmth of her touch.

 _I'm never taking this for granted. Ever._ Kara found herself thinking.

Because after all that's happened, she told herself that no matter how rare or short these quiet moments were, she would treasure them forever.

The conversations soon died down and it became evident that goodbye would come sooner than later.

She sucked at goodbyes, she knew, but she also knew that they all needed to go back home.

"Remember, if you ever need us, we're just a call away." Barry had said after pulling Kara into a hug. "You guys take care of each other, okay?" he then followed up pulling a surprised looking Lena into a hug as well.

Kara couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle. "Of course. But we have a two way channel, so if you ever need me or my help…"

"We'll call." Cisco then said.

Hugs were exchanged and heartfelt goodbyes said as one adventure comes to a close.

Kara soon found herself standing in an empty apartment with only Lena left, the rest of her friends and her sister deciding to go home.

"So what now?" Lena asked, making her way towards Kara and placing her hands on her hips.

Kara smiles and leans her forehead against Lena's. She knew it wasn't over.

The end of one chapter was only the beginning of the other.

"We rest." she replied with a knowing smile.

* * *

"Metallo's gone. The latest report form one of our scouts say that Superman didn't pull any punches this time." Lillian Luthor said as she walked into the dark chamber that Westfield had locked himself in.

A bright flash of green and a faint flash of blue came from two different corners of Paul Westfield's lab. In the middle of the room was a main computer set-up where Westfield was currently looking over data. "Metallo is a low level side project. An experiment to see how well we can stabilize the use of a pure kryptonite core or heart, whatever you want to call it." he replied with a shrug without much care in the world.

"Yes, but he is my creation." Lillian replied.

"I didn't know you actually have a mother's instinct." Westfield remarked.

Something that Lillian let slip by.

She still needed him.

"How are our guests?" Lillian asked as her eyes scanned the labs. "We shouldn't have used most of our projects with the recent attack, we still need an army and with our recent losses, it's going to cost us."

"We did not act rashly, if that's what you mean." Westfield replied. "To gain, we have to give up something in return. They were failed units, failed attempts, and we needed to move certain assets. We needed a cover. And I do say, it's not much of a waste. Last time I checked, we had a fallen hero." he added with a grin. "And I do say, we managed to collect excellent data on fighting patterns as well as weaknesses we can improve upon with our newest systems. As for the cash flow, don't worry about it. I've secured something else we could tap into in the meantime, that is, for as long as you agree that L-Corp should be left alone."

"That is something I leave up to Lex, so I still stand by that. But what do you mean about the data?" Lillian pressed on.

"It means our guests are doing well." Westfield replied, stepping away from the computers to walk towards the glowing green tube to his right. He placed a hand on of the glass, admiring his handiwork. "Hopefully this time we can have Abernathy make sure that the flaws of his designs are fixed and we get a more permanent and desirable result."

Lillian glanced over at the other tube to the left. "I see he's not the only one you're holding responsible."

"Oh you're too humble, Dr. Luthor. _That_ one is your brilliant idea, remember?" Westfield replied. "But our specimen is responding well to initial analysis results. We can have **Mark II** operational soon too."

"Good." Lillian replied with a grin. "Project 13?"

"Can be activated soon as well. Just running a few more tests, make sure he's stable. We don't want the same fiasco we had with Project 12." Westfield replied before returning to his place in front of his computer.

"Project 14?"

"Going well and ahead of schedule. We've already aged by three and looks like the process is responding well. The female Kryptonian's DNA is definitely superior compared to our male Kryptonian's. And our template seems nothing less than a perfect match. I was wrong of my initial reservations, Dr. Luthor. Your daughter is proving to be quite the asset."

"She's good for a few things." Lillian replied, pleased. "And if anything, she's loyal to a fault. Still, don't let her pretty face or sharp wit fool you, Dr. Westfield, that you end up dropping you're guard or I'm sure Lena would prove to be more than what you can handle."

"I'll keep that in mind." Westfield replied. "Is that all for the visit?"

Lillian let out a chuckle. "The plans to the suit had been revised as I've only been made recently aware of, Dr. Westfield. I just wanted to ensure you're keeping your word to my son and delivering the best. It was his original design you've made amendments to, after all."

"Oh, I simply planned to adjust a few parameters. We also lost a few plans of essential parts to the raids, changing them should keep our enemies on their toes. They have, however, been finalized and the changes approved by Lex. I apologize for not keeping you in the loop." Westfield replied in a rather analytical tone.

"And how is the suit?" Lillian then asked.

"Ready." Westfield replied as he turned to Lillian rather smug. "I do believe it's time to proceed with our final plans."

"Good response." Lillian replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

_Just a little bit longer, my son._

_We'll be a family again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: Well, Dr. Abernathy did go missing (technically speaking, so did someone else earlier on in the story)… There are two versions of Kryptonite Man that I know of, so, there's one hint ;)
> 
> What could be in that other tank? And who could be the one dealing with it? I've been seeding that in a few chapters (since chapter 6?) and if you've figured it out and want to let me know what you feel about it, let me know and PM me ;)
> 
> That said, this is it folks, the last of our crossovers! Now here's the thing, depending on how busy I get with work (or how badly the writers of the show screw things up and affect my moods), I'm planning on adding a series (like five) of one/two/three-parter one-shots as an epilogue. They'll be shorter but they sort of have their own thing going with them. And a crossover is definitely part of it with the first of them picking up right where we end. Again, no promises, but I'll try ;)
> 
> UPNEXT: Oh happy Sanvers! Oh happy Supercorp! Oh Clark? Supes comes for a visit and he is not happy… at all… Plus, a grand scheme starts to unfold!


	23. It All Starts From Apparent Happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, I've been dying to upload this chapter and the next one but I got swamped with work (I still am… send help… like seriously…) but I'll try to get chapter 24 as soon as I can. Anyways, here is chapter 23 featuring… well… a lot…
> 
> Oh, this is gonna be a long one…

Warm.

It felt warm.

And peaceful.

And bright and fuzzy and warm.

Like Kara was the very hearth that keeps any place cozy.

Kara's smile was already like sunshine, her stance and her beliefs were like sunlight breaking through the darkness that Lena thought she deserved.

And somehow, she couldn't help but notice just how warm Kara was. _Literally_.

No, she wasn't burning hot, but there was just a distinct kind of warmth radiating off of her that makes Lena feel safe, happy, and at peace.

She kept her eyes closed, not really wanting to chase the dreams away. If she opened them, she would be greeted by the sunshine filtering through Kara's windows, bathing them in a kind of light she always thought only belonged to those who saw the heavens above. In a way, it was true. Her apartment never seemed to be as bright and welcoming as Kara's.

No, Lena didn't want to wake up. If she did, she was afraid she would definitely chase away her beautiful dreams.

But Kara was making it impossible for her not to wake up.

Lena sighed contentedly as she felt Kara pull her impossibly closer, her back fully flushed against Kara's body as her girlfriend planted down lazy kisses on her bare shoulder before nuzzling into her neck.

And like Lena, she could sense that Kara didn't want to leave the bed.

Lena smiled as she turned around – a seemingly simple task made impossible by a certain Kryptonian whose arms and legs are all but stubbornly tangled with Lena's – and nudged her nose against Kara who was trying her best to keep her eyes closed and pretend to still be a sleep despite giggling. Lena decided to repeat the gesture hoping Kara would respond one way or another other than with the giggles that escaped her lips, but when Kara's own stubbornness seemed to be winning out, Lena decided to lean in for a soft kiss on the lips.

That seemed to do the trick.

Kara's eyes fluttered open as she rested her forehead against Lena's and in her eyes, Lena swore, she could see all the love in the world. Kara's smile grew even bigger before she leaned in to capture Lena's lips in her own in a sweet kiss, hands gently tracing patterns on Lena's skin.

And everything was perfect.

Just absolutely perfect.

Christmas time with the Danvers had been quite entertaining. Everyone was there, except for Kate who had gone back to Gotham to see her family over the holidays. J'onn took her place instead, with M'gann and Mon-El joining them. Really, it felt more like Lena was swept up into an unexpected whirlwind of events. They spent Christmas Eve together, Kara mostly tried to get Mon-El, the guy who introduced himself as Mike before, to behave properly around Lena.

Lena wasn't going to lie, she had been very nervous. She had never met her girlfriend's mother before, much less spend Christmas with them. Hell, she never really had a girlfriend before. But Eliza, thankfully, was nothing like Lillian Luthor. Apparently, she noticed her closeness with Kara since Thanksgiving and asked if they had been dating since then. Kara had quickly replied with a "Sort of." and soon Lena found herself being wrapped up into a warm hug.

Christmas with the Luthors, with all of its extravagance, could definitely never compare with Christmas with the Danvers. Not by a long shot.

And all of sudden, Lena found herself in the company of not just friends but family.

When Lena found herself falling in love with Kara Danvers, she thought that was it, she was about to lose the last piece of her heart. Lena had always thought that a person's heart was like a puzzle, you give pieces of it to the people you love and care about, giving them a piece of who you are. But sometimes, people don't care, and they lose that piece, or tear it, or break it, shred it, pulverize it, destroy it, and toss it aside and forget about it. And Lena, she kept giving pieces of her heart to people she had loved, to Lionel, who at least took care of it most of the time, to Lillian, who never really cared, and to Lex, who inevitably broke it. She gave and gave until there was nothing left but a tiny sliver that was so tired and fragile. In place of the missing pieces, Lena had built a wall. A wall that people learned to respect and cower behind in fear.

She never thought she would deserve Kara's love because of that. She never though she could _give_ the love Kara deserves, especially. That's why she still finds it hard to say it.

To tell Kara that she loved her.

She's afraid that if she says it then it becomes real, and there's no turning back. The tiny piece of her heart that was left for Kara to hold - not that she doesn't already have it - would be completely hers and hers alone. It was like relinquishing the last piece of control she had left to someone she knew would never hurt her, but had all the power to. Kryptonian or not.

But that wasn't it. Lena was waiting for her world to crumble, for the fire to finally burn her because she dared to reach out to it again.

Because she dared to think that maybe the dark was not where she belonged.

And Christmas with the Danvers proved that. Kara brought her everything she thought she lost, everything she thought she never was supposed to have.

She was living with Kara in the light after living in the dark for so long.

After believing that the dark was all that she deserved.

So every kiss, every touch, she savored it. She chose to remember every single detail of it.

Because the last few days have been perfect.

Case in point, it was a Tuesday and she barely wants to leave the comforts of Kara's arms despite the work she needed to get done for the day.

Memories of the past night still lingered in Lena's mind as Kara's sweet kisses grew hungrier and more desperate than ever. And yet, despite knowing just how much Kara had wanted her, she was still careful and gentle with Lena. It was soft yet passionate, needy yet loving. In Kara's arms Lena knew what it was to be safe, to be protected, and to be loved.

And as if that wasn't already too much, Lena had to process the fact that Kara trusted her enough to be vulnerable beneath the touch of her fingertips. It was the fact that their love was mutual and equal that left Lena completely overwhelmed. Lena's trust that Kara would never harm her, would never lose control, was equally met by Kara's trust to show Lena all sides of her, even the one that proved to be weak against a certain kind of power that Lena had over her.

As the days and nights of their perfect weekend rolled over, Lena learned what it took to make gods beg on their knees and shudder with a touch as they come undone. And Lena learned what it meant to be _loved_.

 _Unconditionally_ , in all sense of the word, in all ways that mattered.

And like all good things, their lazy morning had to come to an end.

For one, they do have responsibilities to face. Lena had a company to run and Kara was living the double life of an up and coming reporter and Supergirl. Really, Lena was just thankful that no one needed saving the last couple of days. It would seem that National City had enough of excitement with the most recent attacks it had to endure and just wanted to take a break from it all.

But it wasn't their busy lives that had Kara jumping out of bed with a groan and in a rush to find any piece of clothing she could rapidly grab hold of.

It was a rather loud knock on her front door.

"Who. On. Earth. Could. That. Be?" Lena asked in between kisses as Kara leaned over for a few more stolen kisses just as she got dressed. Kara planted one last kiss on Lena's forehead as she tried to sit up, one hand pulling up the covers as she did.

Kara simply smiled at her. In Lena's defense, it was a perfectly acceptable question. Other than Eliza or J'onn, she had quickly come to discover that none of Kara's friends really knew how to knock.

Especially Alex.

But Eliza had gone back to Midvale and Lena couldn't really think up of any reason why J'onn would want to drop in on Kara early on a weekday when he's busy running the DEO.

Kara looked at the door as they heard another knock. Her brows scrunched up a bit, something Lena noticed she did whenever she was using her X-ray vision, and sighed. "Well this ruins the breakfast in bed I hand planned."

"Tell me, does that plan include actual food?" Lena asked amused.

"Of course… Eventually…" Kara replied rather sheepishly as she walked towards her bedroom door. She lingered for a second before turning back to Lena. "I'll handle this." she then added, looking quite unsure before finally walking to answer whoever it was that kept knocking.

Lena's curiosity got the best of her and she soon rummaged through Kara's closet to grab whatever piece of clothing she could easily find. She found herself frozen just right next to the glazed window panes that separated Kara's bedroom from the rest of her apartment when she heard the unmistakable voice of one mild-mannered reporter. "Kara! I'm sorry if I woke you up or anything. I just felt bad that I couldn't drop by the holidays to come see you." Clark Kent had said.

Lena peaked through the crack on the door, barely getting a glimpse of him as he took Kara into a warm hug. "Do you mean check on me?" Kara had corrected, her voice light as she let go of Clark.

Clark nodded tentatively and watched as Kara made her way around the kitchen counter. Lena kept herself hidden, only catching quick looks of the two as they moved about. She could hear some noises from the kitchen, the unmistakable sound of Kara's old coffee maker being turned on. She guessed that Kara offered Clark a cup of coffee based on Clark's response – a slight shake of his head to say yes.

"I was just worried." Clark then replied. "I know you said everything was okay when I called – and you do look okay, incredibly happy actually – but…"

"Yeah, all twenty four times..." she heard Kara reply with a chuckle, interrupting Clark, before she saw her girlfriend walking around the counter, handing him his coffee. "You didn't have to. I know you had to leave but you already did your part, Kal. It would have been nice to have you officially meet everyone else in a less intense way, but there's always a next time. And hopefully that next time includes happier times."

"I know. But still Kara, I feel awful. I should have been there." Clark argued. "I know, we've talked about this. You don't need me fighting your battles for you. But I should have been with you during the invasion, I should have been with you in The Stem. And with Kryptonite Man, you shouldn't have been alone. This thing with Cadmus is just another part of my endless battle with Lex and you're getting dragged into this. You're the last family I have left and I almost lost you. So, I know we don't get to do this a lot, but how about we go grab brunch at Noonan's and catch up?"

"I… um… actually I was…" Lena heard Kara then started to ramble before she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Kal," she then said, this time sounding more formal, "I think we need to talk about something."

Lena looked away and found herself leaning onto the wall of Kara's bedroom wall. She took a deep breath to calm her heart as it started to beat loudly against her chest.

This was it, she could tell. They never really talked about it before, mostly because despite talking about Krypton and her fond memories of home, Kara rarely mentioned Superman.

If anything, she only mentioned him once or twice. And that was to tell Lena they were the last of their kind and when she made the passing comment about Kal's father Jor-El and a computer that approved of matches on Krypton. She never even mentioned him again until Mon-El asked why Clark Kent was calling him all the time over the holidays and Winn slipped up. Lena simply took the news as it was and the matter never brought up again.

Lena found herself bracing herself for whatever happens next. No, she wasn't afraid of Superman, and no, she wasn't going to back down. She loved Kara, and she was going to fight for her, whether or not her cousin approves.

But Lena found that she _does_ care. Because Clark was the last piece of Krypton that Kara knew of. The last person she was related to by blood.

And she knew that she loves him and cares for him, that she felt that it was her responsibility to always keep an eye on him too.

"Someone's here." Clark said more than asked and Lena did her best to stop herself from cursing under her breath.

Because of course Superman would pick up on her heart beating anxiously.

And if Superman could hear her, she knew that Kara could too.

"Yes." was Kara's immediate reply.

"I'm sorry. I… I didn't know I was intruding on something." Clark then quickly replied, sounding apologetic. "I probably should have called first. So, um, who's the lucky guy? If you don't ask me asking, that is." he had asked.

"Girl." Kara replied and Lena heard an 'Oh' escape from Clark, clearly not expecting that response. "And that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You might want to sit down. Maybe put your mug down too."

"Why?" Clark asked, his tone light and jovial. "Kara, whoever it is, it doesn't matter. Whether it's a guy or a girl too. What matters is what you feel for each other. I want you to know that."

"I know that." Kara had said in response with an air of confidence. "I absolutely know that, Kal. That's not what I wanted to tell you."

"Then what is?" Clark asked confused. "Please don't tell me we need to… um… you know… go over the… uh… um… stuff... again…" he started to awkwardly ramble and Lena couldn't help but wonder if being the last two Kryptonian meant that Clark had to give Kara _the talk_ , especially with their powers and all.

"Rao, no! Kal, that's not it either. I think we have that covered. Please, let's just never talk about that. Like ever. Again." Kara immediately said, incredibly mortified.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Clark then replied with a chuckle. "So what do you want to talk about, then?"

Lena heard Kara took a deep breath to steady herself yet again. "Lena." she said simply.

"Lena?" she then heard Clark asked, confused.

"Yes, Lena."

"As in _Luthor_? As in Lex's little sister? What about her, Kara?" Clark asked, his tone slowly changing. "Did something happen? Is she behind…"

"She's the girl I'm dating." Kara said, an edge to her tone as she cut him off completely before he could even finish what he was insinuating.

"I'm sorry, did you just say…" Clark then started to say.

"She's my girlfriend, Kal. When you left we became friends, and one thing happened after the other and all of a sudden I couldn't, I just, I couldn't help falling in love with her." Kara immediately said before Clark could say anything.

And while Lena didn't hear Clark Kent say anything for a good few seconds, she did hear the sound of shattering glass.

"Kara, I know that Lena is trying to set herself up with a new life here in National City, but she's still Lex's sister." Clark had started and Lena could feel a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Something akin to dread.

And hurt.

The shadows of the darkness that had surrounded her were trying to reach out to her and pull her back. Clark Kent might've given Lena Luthor the respect of a fresh start, but he clearly didn't trust her. Not fully.

And while he was giving her the chance that she asked for, it was clear that he was already anticipating the worse.

Lena could feel her core shaking, not entirely sure where Kara and Clark's conversation was going.

All she knew was that she kept telling herself not to cry. No, she wasn't going to give Clark Kent the benefit of that.

The benefit of seeing a Luthor cry just because of a stupid last name and the burden that came along with it, the burden that she's been trying to shake away.

"That's it, that's your excuse?" she heard Kara argue back, her tone rising.

"Kara, she's still a _Luthor_." Clark had argued back.

"Didn't you just say that it doesn't matter who it was? But now that you know it's a Luthor, that all changes? Kal, she's more than that."

"She's Lex's sister Kara. His sister. I knew him for years, _years_ , and I still wasn't able to see the signs. See what he's become. I wasn't able to stop it. I know Lena isn't Lex, but they grew up in the same home. They grew up close from what I heard from Lex himself because she was the only person he actually cared about."

"That doesn't have anything to do with us!" Kara then exclaimed.

"Yes it does!" Clark replied, sounding all but exasperated. "I know you want to see the good in people Kara, but like it or not we're still up against Lex. We're against Cadmus. We're not entirely sure…"

" _I am_." Kara then said defiantly. "Lena's not like her family."

"Yeah, I'm sure she said that to you." Clark replied. "Kara, you need to open your eyes to the possibility that she's actually just playing you." he said almost pleadingly.

And inside Kara's room, Lena knew she couldn't take more of this. A part of her was scared that Clark's words would sway Kara, would make her see that she wasn't actually good enough for her. To be with Supergirl.

But Kara, ever her champion, her knight, was quick to defend her. "She's more than just a name Kal!" she argued. "Why can't you see that?"

"I used to think the same for Lex... even when everyone distrusted Lionel, especially Lillian. He was still a Luthor and in the end he was worse than what people thought he would become. Lena's still a Luthor too, Kara, please understand."

"Is that all you can really argue? That Lena's a Luthor? That's it?" Kara replied, her tone sharp. "Accusing her of being evil just because she's a Luthor, just because she's Lex's sister? Kal, doesn't that sound familiar to you? You of all people should know how that feels, to be labelled and known as something just because you're different. Just because you're Superman doesn't mean you can forget about the same prejudice people feel against us just because we're aliens. The same thing Lex feels, the same way Lillian feels. Luthor's just a name. Just like yours is 'El' and 'Kent', and I don't know what it means to be a 'Kent' on this world but being a part of the House of El meant that we're able to overcome certain prejudices. And quite honestly, neither you nor Lena are perfect but she's learning to see things from different perspectives, outgrow what she's been taught as a Luthor. She's trying to understand the world that we live in now with meta-humans and aliens, and everything. Why can't you?"

"Kara, I'm just trying to protect you. I'm not accusing Lena she's evil, but the Luthors... they're really good at this, good at twisting words, manipulating people to get what they want. I've been there before, haven't you been listening? I believed in Lex, he was family to me. And it crushed me to realize that the things people said he did were true. I fought for him, stood by him, until the very end. I wanted to trust him more and more, but he kept proving me wrong, he kept proving people right about him. I tried to reach him but it only drove him further into his madness. I was blind Kara, I was blind by what I wanted to see in him and I could have stopped him sooner if I wasn't. We're in this mess now because of it. Sure, I'll give it to you, maybe Lena's not Lex, but…"

"But what, Kal? You don't approve?" Kara replied, sounding tired of the circling argument. "I'm not looking for your approval. This is more FYI, really."

"But she's not someone you can just trust Kara." Clark argued. "There's still so much history, personal history, between our families. Lex tried to kill me, multiple times. He's tried to hurt the people I love. I just want to make sure she doesn't do that to you, with the people _you_ love."

"That's the thing Kal." Kara replied. "I love _her_." she stated, her words echoing through Lena's mind. Kara loved her and that was what mattered. She couldn't let how Clark Kent saw her get to her.

She managed to convince a grumpy Green Martian she truly loved Kara – although technically he could read minds if he wanted to, so he had that advantage – along with Alex, and Eliza Danvers.

What one close-minded Kryptonian thought shouldn't matter to her, right?

"Kara…" Clark said, trying to reason with her.

"Kal," Kara interjected, not letting him finish, "you're happy. You're happy with the love of your life with parents that raised you here on earth. You get a fresh start, a place to feel home. And even though sometimes you may feel like an outsider, you're still a part of this world. You grew up here. So you don't know what you're missing. But I do Kal, I do. And the only person I've ever felt closest to home with, no matter how many people I've met and treasured, is Alex. But Alex is happy now too. And I can't be her whole life. And I can see her happiness and I want that too. Because you may be family Kal, but the only place I feel home with other than family and friends, my sister, is Lena."

"Kara…" Clark tried to say once again, his voice pleading for her too listen.

"No, you can't be condescending and all judgemental. You're not allowed to be upset. I'm not weak of mind, I'm not blind Kal. I'm not being manipulated into something I don't want. I deserve to be happy too. Your problem is with Lex. LEX. That's the name you should hate so much and you know what, his name's Alexander to begin with but you don't have a problem with Alex having the female version of his name, so you don't get to use the reason that she's a Luthor when all she has is the same last name. All you see in Lena is Lex, your own hatred and your own anger and your own pettiness about it!"

"Kara, you nearly died in the hands of one of _their_ creations! So no, I'm sorry if I refuse to keep my guard down. I'm not being petty about."

"Really? So you're telling me you don't want me to break up with Lena?" Kara asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"It's not my place to make you do that, but Kara…" Clark replied but Kara never finished a she all but groaned in frustration as a response.

"I'm not going to sacrifice my happiness just because you can't move past that. Because of your prejudiced view of _all_ Luthors. You're not the only one allowed to have that, happiness, security, love. Besides Kal, you were never there when I arrived, you weren't exactly there when I grew up here. You left me with some other family to take care of me. And guess what? The people who have, they're happy for me. They've grown to see past a stupid name and a history that wasn't ours to begin with."

"Kara, I couldn't have. I didn't know how to. I thought that the best thing for you then was to let you live your own normal life, and whether or not I wanted you to take up a mantle and live the life I live, I wanted to decide that on your own. I didn't want you living with me affect that decision but that doesn't mean that I care less.."

"I know, Kal. That wasn't the point. The point was you don't get to decide to be family and tell me what to do when it's convenient for you, especially when the people who know me best could see what we have is real."

"It's not being convenient for me now, that's not the reason why I'm saying this. Kara, would you just please listen to reason. Lena Luthor…"

"What about me, Mr. Kent?" Lena asked, having had enough of the screaming match happening in the middle of Kara's apartment. This was about her. She was not going to let Kara fight a battle that she should be fighting herself.

She had kicked her fears aside and taken a deep breath as she stepped outside of Kara's bedroom, the cool confidence and intimidating demeanor she wore as armor against board members and business men on full display.

But this time she knew she had a secret weapon, something that won't let her strength falter.

This time, she had Kara.

She had Kara's love.

She loved Kara too, despite not saying it much at all. So instead, she chose to show it.

And this was one way of doing so.

Kara took a deep breath as Lena stopped right next to Kara, sizing an angry looking Clark Kent. Especially as realization dawned upon him that of course, of course Lena heard everything and the fact that she wasn't surprised by what she had heard meant that she knew their secrets too.

Clark looked hurt by that as he tried to gather the strength to address Kara about it. Lena stepped in again, "I'm right here Mr. Kent, so if you have anything to say to me or about me, please say it to my face."

Clark huffed and shook his head. "We'll still talk about this later, Kara." he had said before backing down and storming off.

The door closed with a loud sound, Lena was sure that if Clark had decided to use a little bit more strength then he would have ended up tearing it off its hinges.

Kara groaned as soon as he left, she ran a hand through her hair as she started pacing and ranting about how high and mighty Kal-El was acting like. Lena's eyes found the broken mug scattered before landing on Kara who looked incredibly upset.

"I'm sorry, Kara." Lena found herself saying, trying her best not to get upset herself. Not to let the darkness swallow her whole again. Somehow she couldn't help but feel responsible for Kara feeling a strain on her relationship with her cousin. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to…"

"No, Lena, no." Kara instantly said, finding herself right next to Lena in barely a second's notice. Her hands cupped Lena's cheeks as she tilted her head to meet her eyes. "He's being an idiot, and that isn't your fault."

"But I bet things _would_ be easier if I weren't a Luthor, right? I don't want to stand in between you and your cousin, of your only blood relative left. He just wants to take care of you, as it should be. He just wants to look after you, look out for you, like all big brothers do sometimes, you know, when they're a little less maniacal."

"Yeah, funny how I was sent here to take care of him." Kara then commented under her breath, her hands slipping down Lena's arms and settling down on her hips. Her anger was slowly starting to subside, Lena could tell, as Kara's breathing started to even out.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked, a little lost on Kara's comment.

"It's nothing. Just, Kal was a baby when Krypton exploded. I was thirteen." Kara started to explain and Lena looked back at her confused.

"I got lost in space." Kara then explained. "In a place where time doesn't pass."

Lena simply nodded as she processed that news. In a way it helped explain why Kara felt so responsible of Superman from time to time, or why she felt the need to save him, to save everyone to make up for not being there for Clark.

"Don't blame yourself for this Lena." she then heard Kara say, as her hand gently stroked her cheeks. "We're caught up in the middle of two people in our lives, that's it. We're not them. We get to live our own lives."

"I always knew you had a certain wisdom about you, Kara." Lena then replied, resting her head on Kara's shoulder. So many thoughts were circling in her mind. Thoughts about Lex and Superman, about Cadmus, Conner and Project 14. Suddenly the heaviness she had nearly forgotten about during the past few days were coming back and in full force. Reality was slowly starting to catch up and dawn upon them.

"Thank you." Lena then murmured against Kara's neck after a few minutes of silence of just being held in Kara's arms. "No one's ever stood up for me like that."

"Well now you have me. And I'll always, _always_ , be on your side. Lena, I promise, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how bad the times are, I'll be here." Kara replied, planting a kiss on her head.

Lena pulled her in closer as she wrapped her hands around Kara. Once again, Lena found herself wishing that the moment would just last a little bit longer than it was allowed to.

That time would just stop so she could bask in the glorious light of day, filtering through the windows of Kara's apartment and enveloping them in such a warmth she's never known before.

Because there was no place she'd rather be than in Kara's arms.

* * *

Kara could feel it, the trepidation in Lena's heart. It was like their hearts had synced and she could feel every beat of it, feel how it picks up when Lena's happy, or how it slows down when she's calm and content. She could feel the heaviness in her heart when she's sad or in pain and hurting, and it pained Kara to know that she was hurting that morning.

She could feel it like an echo as she argued with Kal.

And she could feel it as she held her in her arms.

That's why Kara made it her personal mission to make Lena forget about their interrupted morning and have her smiling brightly again. Kara whipped up her famous pancakes, made Lena coffee, cleaned up the mess that Kal made when he crushed the mug in his hands upon hearing Kara's news, and made the rest of the morning as great as possible.

For Lena.

Kara kept her eyes trained on Lena the whole time, almost forgetting her own food, something completely out of character for her, but she couldn't help it. She was being torn apart.

She felt it, the pain and fragility that Lena carried, it made her just want to hold her in her arms the whole day. But then the image of the expression on Kal's face flashed on her mind. The look of betrayal and hurt for trusting Lena, for loving her.

Was she being selfish? Was she right to be? She wasn't sure she knew the answer.

She was sure that no one did.

But she couldn't, she just couldn't let Lena go and give up on her. She loved her, Kara knew, she loved her with all her being.

She loved her like she's never loved anyone.

And she knew what she said. She meant it.

She would always be there by her side. For as long as Lena wanted her to be, for as long as Lena needed her to be.

And even after all of it, after all the storms they'll face together, she knew Lena will have her heart forever.

But Kara knew she hated that she was essentially fighting with Kal.

The day went on like it always did. Kara found herself flying around the city around lunch time just for a quick patrol. All in all, everything was quiet around National City. There were still some repairs going around the city, and for the most part, Supergirl was typically only needed if an accident occurs during the repairs. Always an easy fix.

She did a quick fly-by around L-Corp to check on Lena, but seeing as her girlfriend was busy, Kara settled on going back to work and simply surprising her later on in the afternoon.

Kara, however, kept her ears tuned to Lena's heartbeat as she flew. It soothed her. It helped her clear her head in the hopes of finding a way to make Kal understand and talk things through with him.

Everything was going perfectly, far too perfectly, really. Things have quieted down and while Cadmus was still in the picture, everyone shared the same thought and enthusiasm in knowing that they were close to crippling them for good. To ending this madness.

She was with Lena too, and the moments they've shared the past couple of days were just priceless. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

But now there was a schism, and Kara could feel it.

Something was coming.

Because everything was just a little too perfect.

And she was just a little too happy.

If anything, Kara had learned, happiness was a fleeting thing.

And the thought of it had a certain kind of fear settling into her heart.

But she wasn't allowed to fret too much about it, not when she picked up Lena's voice in the air, her heartbeat picking up its pace, and not in a good way.

"Superman." Kara heard Lena say sounding a little surprised. "I have to admit, that balcony's reserved for Supergirl. If I had known you were going to use it the way you had with my brother, I wouldn't have had it added." she then said, her tone cool, calm, and a little sharp.

Kara froze from where she was tuning in. She was halfway back to Catco but she did a turn and flew straight back to L-Corp.

"Superman's a little too formal, now, isn't it?" she heard Kal say. There was a bite to his tone that she just hated. It didn't suit him.

And she most definitely did not like the fact that it was directed towards Lena.

"So what can I do for the Man of Steel?" Lena then asked, her voice calmer than it initially was. She was trying, Kara could tell, she was trying so hard to extend an olive branch to her cousin.

"Leave her." Kal said with a finality. "I don't know what game you're trying to play, but my cousin's not a toy. Her heart isn't yours to manipulate."

"I'm not playing any games, Superman." Lena replied, defending herself. "What I feel for Kara is real."

"Really? Or is this your different approach to reach the power your brother failed to have?"

"You think this is a power trip?" Lena retorted quite offended.

"I think your just seducing Kara for your own – "

"Kal!" Supergirl boomed as she landed on the balcony and walked past the already open door leading to Lena's office. Superman and Lena were standing right in the middle, both having their hands crosses in front of their chests as they stubbornly sized each other up.

Kal took a deep breath as he regarded his cousin. "Kara, I…"

"You...! Just stop being a… a… jerk, will you?!" Kara exclaimed, struggling to find the right words as she marched right into the office.

It was a sight to behold really, two Supers arguing in the office of a Luthor.

"Rao, Kal! Would you just stop for a moment and think what you're trying to say?" Kara replied. "I'm not undermining your relationship, now am I? I'm not questioning your girlfriend's motives despite the fact that her father hates me and you, and wants us to be reigned in. Can't you just respect that maybe what we have is real and true and is a statement against the tragedies that surrounded your failed friendship with a _different_ Luthor?"

That seemed to do the trick, and Kal looked a little more embarrassed than angry as Kara made him realize something. He still looked visibly upset and like last time quickly tried to leave.

But this time, he did turn to apologize before leaving.

Kara huffed, the day was already taking a toll on her but somehow she was hoping things would get less and less confrontational with Kal when it comes with her relationship with Lena.

Kara felt Lena's hand on her shoulder and turned around, "Hey, it's okay." she said and Kara had to admit that she felt a little bit lost as to why Lena was the one comforting her instead of having it the other way around. "I understand his reservations Kara, and while his words hurt, I know he just cares about you. But like you said this morning, we get to live our own lives, so I'm not going to let it bother me. I'm used to it anyways."

"But you shouldn't be… used to any of this." Kara quickly replied.

"Yes, but it is what it is. And if Superman is half the man people make him out to be, I'm hoping he would come around. We have to give him time though." Lena said, tucking a loose strand of Kara's hair behind her ears before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Lena smiled softly at her as she pulled away and Kara found herself smiling back.

They had each other, that was what was important, and Kara knew that for as long as they were together they could get through this.

* * *

It had been late but Maggie was tired from pulling a late shift the other night and Alex called ahead telling her she would be coming in later in the afternoon too, the two just enjoying each other's company for a bit while longer.

Really the both of them have been working nonstop lately, but it wasn't like before. It wasn't like Alex was single-mindedly throwing herself into her work, into training, and into stopping Cadmus.

No, it wasn't like that.

It was like she had a renewed purpose.

She heard from Alex that Kate had told her the truth, the information she's managed to gather from Lena Luthor's help, the real nature of Project 13 and the existence of a newer project too. And Kate told her what little knowledge she had about her father.

How Jeremiah had disappeared, but they were looking into it.

How his files were all but wiped clean.

How he ended up working on Cyborg Superman, Hank Henshaw, in an attempt to save his life.

It was a lot to grapple with but Alex chose to be strong, to be better. She's organized her own little search team that would keep an eye out for anything related to her father with an automatic alert system. She organized her training schedule to better accommodate her work and to better balance it with her own personal life.

She wasn't going to let Cadmus get away with all of this, no, but she had also started to listen, to not let this consume her.

And she was open to Maggie's help too. That, on its own, made her breathe a sigh of relief, her worst fears seeming to come to pass.

Alex had been trying to stifle a yawn, her head in her hands as she sat down one of the stools around her kitchen counter. Maggie made her way around the kitchen to make them a very late brunch when the unexpected had happened.

A very upset looking Superman flying into Alex's open apartment window. "Uh, Alex." Maggie had found herself saying as Alex turned around to find the Man of Steel in her living room.

Alex simply looked at Clark, prompting him to speak. "Um, sorry… I seem to be interrupting things."

"What is it, Superman?" Alex asked not entirely sure how to go about things.

"Did you know? About… about…"

"Oh, I know who your cousin is. By all means, please speak freely." Maggie had then found herself saying after noting how Superman had been struggling to say Kara's name. "The name's Sawyer, by the way. Maggie Sawyer."

Somehow she had an idea as to why Superman was in Alex's apartment.

"Nice to meet you." Superman replied before clearing his throat and addressing Alex again. "Did you know about Kara and…"

"Lena?" Alex had finished for him when he couldn't seem to finish his sentence. "Yes. I do."

Superman looked a little surprised and gave Alex a look that Maggie was pretty sure was asking her why they were still together.

"Superman, calm down." Alex then said. "They love each other, they really do. You should have seen Lena when she came into the DEO after she heard what happened to Kara. I get that you want to protect Kara, I do too, but I can't deny that I don't see what they have."

"Alex, you don't know the Luthors like I do." Superman had argued before Maggie found herself cutting in.

"Apparently, your cousin knows the Luthors better than you." she had said and Superman looked at her incredulously. "What, it's true? Don't get me wrong, I know what you're so concerned about and Kara does too. She sees past that, your whole thing with Lex Luthor, and sees Lena for who she is. I've got to say, Superman, I'm a little surprised that you wouldn't see things the way Kara does. You looked like she just betrayed you and that you're emotionally struggling to see what's right there in front of you. I mean, I think we've established how many times Lex nearly killed you and succeeded with his plans, it's all over the news. But have you considered how other people around you involved in this thing feels too? Have you considered how Lena feels about what her brother did, even nearly having her killed? Have you considered how torn up your cousin feels right now too? This whole mess started between two people who now have fully dragged everyone they cared about in the middle?"

"She feels torn." Superman had replied as he seemed to be processing things. "And upset."

"There you go." Maggie had replied and Alex beamed at her proudly for handling the situation. "Listen here, boyscout, I don't care about your personal beef with the Luthors, but Little Danvers is dating her, so by extension I consider her a Danvers too. And as for Kara, I'm very fond of her. So let's be clear, make it hard for anyone of them, make them cry or suffer because of your own power-pissing contest with a man behind bars and I don't care if I am human, you'll have me to contend with. Besides, I know I few people who could help me."

"Do I happen to know these people too?" Superman had then asked with a chuckle, relaxing a little bit. Maggie didn't grace him with an answer, however, he just simply shook his head and apologized.

"You've got a great girl there, Alex. I'm sure Jeremiah would be proud." he had added before he turned to leave.

Alex looked up at him in surprise before turning to Maggie. "Please don't tell me you didn't think he would figure it out considering the multitude of evidence that points to me staying the night?" Maggie had asked Alex amused and Alex laughed.

"Thank you for taking care of that though, honestly, with everything else, Superman and Supergirl arguing is something we don't need. Do you think you got him to understand?"

"I think he's getting there." Maggie had replied before she resumed to whipping up the best brunch for her own girlfriend.

She had a feeling they would need it to face the long day ahead.

And indeed she had been right.

Maggie still replayed the events of the morning in her head as she made her way into the dive bar a little later in the afternoon. Mon-El gave her a wave to say hello before pointing to the booth where Kate was. He was quick to pass her a drink as she made her way towards Kate. "You wanted to see me?"

"I needed to talk to a friend." was Kate's somber reply.

"What's on your mind?"

"If I knew something about someone, and I found out by accident, might have pursued the lead I found to get to the bottom of things, should I or should I not tell them? See, I want to tell them, I think that's for the best in this case, but it's also rather a personal thing. I think I could actually get away without ever telling the person, this person could potentially never know the truth. But it might come up someday."

"Is this about Alex or her dad?" Maggie asked. "Because honestly I think the Danvers sisters have their fair share of tension at the moment. Superman found out."

"What I was pertaining to? No. That's a different matter." Kate replied before nodding along. "And yeah, I know. Lena's been messaging me non-stop on how she should handle things. Her first instinct is to be argumentative. She never used to really care about the whole alien thing, and honestly she's neutral on her stance before. Her biggest issue is with Superman, how he contributed to Lex's fall. I don't think she hates him so much as partially blames him. But right now she just wants to make peace with things, for Kara."

"That's good to hear, especially considering since he came storming in to Alex's apartment earlier this morning and I'm partially scared he would blame Alex or something for not stopping Kara from falling in love with a Luthor. Seems like that's all Supes can see."

"That is utter nonsense." Kate replied. "You can't stop the heart…" she replied, seemingly distracted by other thoughts.

"But that's not why we're here." Maggie then said, getting back to topic. "So what's it about, if you don't mind me asking? How bad is the truth?"

"Bad enough that I think the person this pertains too could live a better life without ever knowing it."

"But you're scared of something?"

Kate nodded. "Because I know that some people know about it too, people who might use it to hurt said person. And I know what it's like to be lied to Mags. I guess, I just need someone to tell me I'm wrong, or if I'm right, how to go about saying it. The truth sucks, and is apparently inescapable. Really it's just the missing cherry on top of the misery sundae of this person's life."

"Well, I'm a sucker for truth, so, you know I'm not going to be the one to tell you you're wrong." Maggie then replied. "I'm glad to know that you can still talk to me about these things though."

"Hey, I've kept my word. Besides, I had to endure listening to your lady problems, so." Kate replied with a shrug, a light smile forming on her lips. "That isn't all though. Babs and I worked through most of the encrypted files we've recovered and we found this buried deep within a lot of useless data." she then said, fishing a flash drive from her pocket. "Give this to Alex for me, please? I still need to deal with a few things."

"What is this?"

"I can't really say that its video log, but it sort of is. They're short, one minute videos at most, from different years. Jeremiah recorded messages to Alex, Eliza, and Kara, reminding them he loved them, to be strong through all of it. The last one was the night before Cadmus managed to take Kara though."

"Kate…" Maggie said at a loss for words.

"Just get it to Agent Danvers." she replied before excusing herself. "Thanks for the talk Mags."

"Thank you for this." Maggie replied. "It's a good little reminder of hope."

Kate simply shrugged and walked off, almost immediately Maggie fished for her phone and called Alex.

Perhaps that was their silver lining for the day.

* * *

"You need to tell her. Now would be nice." Kate immediately said upon Lena's arrival in her little base of operations at home. With the holidays over, and celebrating New Year's Eve not really her main concern at the moment, Kate had found herself back at National City. She was glossing over the details of what Oracle had finally encrypted during her trip back home, trying to wrap her head around the entirety of it really.

She knew, of course, what Lena had told her.

And she knew what she's found with her own investigations.

It didn't mean, however, that it would all just be too easy to accept. Besides, the encrypted logs they obtained from the past failed projects had a little too much additional info that Kate was having a hard time to come to terms with.

It's not that they were difficult to understand, no.

It's because of what they meant about all of this.

What it would mean to Lena.

And with Superman hanging around town as well and finding about Lena and Kara's relationship, well, things just got more complicated.

"I know." Lena conceded and sighed as she sat down on a second swivel chair next to Kate. "Is that why you called? I do have important meetings I need to get back to."

"No, not all that. Just wanted to make sure you're still on that." Kate then replied.

"I am." Lena replied truthfully. "It's just taking time. I mean, how do I even tell her? Where do I begin? How do I even make her understand all of this, all that I've done? Especially after she's stood up for me and defended me against Superman's insinuations over and over again. I'm afraid Kara's going to just see the danger in what I've been doing and forget to listen. She tends to be very protective. Apparently she didn't talk to Alex, James, or Winn for a while after finding out that Superman's best friend was Guardian. And I… I'm afraid she'd lose sight of it all, think that it's just because I'm a Luthor. That Clark Kent was right and I'm just playing games. And while I am playing my games against Lex, I'm not playing it with her. With her it's real, Kate, and I'm trying so hard to keep her away from Cadmus' grasp. I can't lose her, I just can't."

Kate took a deep breath and took her eyes off of the screen, rubbing her temples. She turned to look at Lena, at a loss for words. "I can tell you a lot of the same lines that you'd hear people say if you ask them that question. 'Just tell her the truth, start with that.' But really, at the end, it's all about ripping off the band aid. Just diving in. I mean, she loves you. How bad could it be?" she asked, it was her way of testing the waters with Lena.

After all, she just stumbled upon a little something that Lena may or may not know. She didn't know how to tell her, technically her dig for the truth with Oracle felt like an invasion of privacy in some sense, but it became a vital information in the end, what was she supposed to do?

Besides, she needed to know the answer. She wasn't going to let Lillian or Lex use the information later on. Not on Lena, no.

Lena simply stared at Kate with a deadpan expression on her face. "I know, but can you actually imagine how that conversation would go?" Lena asked Kate but she didn't wait for any reply, Lena seemed to be quite in a mood, which wasn't really helping, but Kate let her vent out a little. She's had to be perfectly composed all the time all her life, Lena was allowed to have a break.

Lena huffed as she went on, Kate simply listening. "Hey darling, you know how evil my mom is?" she started for her mock talk with Kara. "Well, she took your DNA, combined it with mine, and soon we're gonna have a little version of us running around Cadmus or the DEO, who knows? It could be a teenager when we see it. It could be a toddler. It may or may not also be utilized as the ultimate bioweapon alongside its cousin or brother, I don't even know what to call it really but it's essentially a younger version of Clark and Lex who I decided to name Conner because you know, Project 13 just seems to be such a mouthful and impersonal. On that note, how about we come up with a name for our little bundle of joy or terror? Again, the last part purely depends on if we can save them from Cadmus before my mother and her associates turn them into one of their organization's evil minions."

Kate simply nodded as she listened. Lena was most definitely stressed out, she could tell, and the whole double agent thing was taking a toll on her. If it weren't for the life or death aspect of things, Kate might've found the whole thing amusing.

Especially since Lena managed to say all that in one single breath.

She decided to keep her response light, delving into the heaviness of the world on their shoulders right now wasn't going to help. Besides, she knew it would help Lena ease up a bit. "Well, there you go… It's just like telling your girlfriend that you're pregnant and she is, as shocking as it sounds, the mother. So, how about we try it again, maybe with a little less sarcasm this time?"

"This is serious Kate!" Lena exclaimed, hitting her on the arm.

"I know, but you have to admit, we're past the point of ridiculous with what? Alien invasions, zombie robot aliens, time traveling meta-humans that can breach other earths and all? It's hard to process all that information and yet it's the truth of our lives. I'm not saying Kara will be all light and frothy about this… actually, now that I had a chance to think about it, she might flip out a little…"

"That also does not help." Lena then interjected and Kate laughed.

"But I think love wins out in the end." Kate replied in a somber tone. "Call me a sap, because I believe in soulmates and all, but I do think that if Kara fell from the sky and possibly traveled the definition of a far distance to get to you, well, I think that means something. The whole universe conspired so that the two of you would be where you are now, to have everything completely fall apart after that just doesn't make any sense. I know you're scared Lena, but I believe that things would be alright in the end. She loves you, and I know you love her too. Otherwise, what are we even doing here? Let's face it Lena, you'll do anything to stop your mother and clear the Luthor name but you won't go above and beyond and risk your life if you didn't love her. You would play this game differently. This right now, it's just a storm you're going to have to weather together. As for what you've been doing, it's something that she has to hear from you, because one way or another, she's going to find out. And she's going to find out soon."

"I know." Lena replied, her voice so weak and frail. Kate could tell she's getting a little emotional over it. "By the way, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"We've decoded everything. By 'we' I mean Oracle for the most part." Kate replied with a sigh, looking away from Lena for a minute before turning her attention back at her, concern written all over her face.

Lena wanted to be free of it.

But she never would, not now. Not if she finds out.

But Kate knew, and she'd rather tell her now rather than have Lena find out about it one way or another especially with Paul Westfield and Lillian Luthor knowing the truth too.

If there was anything Kate knew for a fact, it was that the truth came out one way or another. It doesn't matter who you want to protect from it, it doesn't matter what your intentions are for hiding it.

Kate's been on the receiving end before, and no, she didn't hear it.

She stumbled upon it on a helicopter, staring her in the face as she struggled to keep her hold on the recently appointed leader of the religious cult who had orchestrated her life's greatest tragedies.

She heard it from her lips, a simple sentence. "You have our father's eyes."

And Kate found herself not only having to endure what was to come but the realization that the truth she was forced to accept was a lie.

Since it happened – the abduction, the execution of her mom, of her twin sister – she had carried a bit of guilt for surviving. Thoughts like if only she could have done something then or that it should have been her instead of Beth, instead of her sister, haunted her in the deepest and darkest corners of her mind.

And then she finds out that her sister was alive after all the time that passed, that it wasn't her body she saw all bloody as her dad took her out of the place they were holding them.

That her father knew but couldn't find her.

That the Religion of Crime turned her into some insane 'Alice in Wonderland' quoting madwoman.

It's not over yet, and things are better now, but it still had been a piece of truth that she had to deal with and grapple with. And when she thought she failed to save her sister again as she fell from the helicopter after she stabbed Kate's hand to let go, when the DEO found her and used her as one of their leverages to get Kate to work for them, when she had to struggle and fight for her sanity, to heal the wounds, when it felt like it would never end – especially since the cult group is still a pain in her ass if she were being honest, all because they're obsessed about killing either her sister or her – Kate wished she knew.

Kate wished she never stopped looking and never buried the past.

Kate wished she knew she didn't have to face the guilt of surviving, the guilt of not having to face the horrors her sister had to endure.

She wished she could have faced the truth head on.

There were reasons to still keep secrets, sure, whether it was about trust or about life or death. But Kate knew the Luthors, how they used one secret as a powerful weapon to manipulate their prey. To twist and turn it into something that could hurt and harm.

And sure, this was on a different context, but Kate knew that this truth would haunt Lena. She knew it would hurt and harm her if someone like Lillian or, God forbid, Lex tries to use it against her.

She'd rather be the one to tell her, she'd rather not let Lena be blindsided by the truth. Be emotionally manipulated by it.

"You don't stay silent for long unless you're contemplating how to deliver bad news. Kate, the last time you did this was just before you disappeared on me. I know and understand why now, but _that_ look on your face never means well."

Kate sighed again.

She had been lecturing Lena about ripping off the Band aid.

It was only right that she does the same too.

Besides, it was her reason for calling Lena in the first place and asking her to meet when she had the time.

"The encrypted files were sort of like log books for each experiment, a list of what was done, what failed in the process, and the testing they did on the different 'Project Superman' models. A complete work-up of each were included, if they had memory implantation or aging sequence, it was also in the file. Genetic sequences and make-up, Westfield's personal notes alongside some of Lex's. If anything, it clears up the history on why they moved from one project to another. Like why the gene-splicing didn't work, why robotics failed. It had specifics of places they got their resources from, for the experiments, tiny little details that would help us in cutting Cadmus off. Some stuff you already know, if anything it only extended the research data Westfield's been handing you. But the notes did include something about the little accident that caused the genetic mutation both you and Lex had as a result."

"You mean the one that made our genes compatible with Kryptonians?" Lena then said, asking the obvious.

Kate nodded and bit her lip. She started typing away on her keyboard, pulling up a few files on screen.

It was the easiest way to make Lena understand what was hard to say.

"Westfield might have omitted a few things from you." Kate started to say. "Batman wanted to know how easy it would be to replicate the success with Conner, be prepared and all. He wanted to know how easy it would be to repeat the accident, all of the conditions necessary and stuff but apparently there was one key factor. Oracle managed to take notice of it from the data they have on you that you gave us and the data we have on record about Lex from the others that failed. I, um, I know I crossed the line but I needed to reconfirm what we suspected… so I… I know this person who could run samples I need discretely and it wasn't hard to get one from Lex either, surprisingly enough. I got yours from when you visited before I left for Gotham. I just, if it were true, I didn't want you to hear it from _them_."

Lena stayed silent, her eyes picking up on what the information on the screen was telling her.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked cautiously.

"Let's face it, if I knew what was happening with you and your sister, the real circumstance you were in, I would've crossed the line as well. If I had a way to get what I needed, I mean." was Lena's reply, cold and calculated. "Though you must have been really bored over the holidays to keep investigating all throughout."

She was mad, Kate could tell.

But mad at her or just upset in general, she wasn't sure.

Lena had always been an expert at concealing her feelings.

"Lena…" Kate started to say, reaching for her friend's hand.

"I think I just need a minute to process things." Lena replied. "God, can this week get any worse? It's like a never ending reminder of what I'm supposed to be." she added with a mix of sadness and frustration about it.

"It has been in my experience to know that you should never say that, it's like tempting fate." Kate then replied, not really knowing what else to say in response.

Just that it was actually true. One must never tempt fate.

"Yeah, well, fate's got funny plans for us so we might as well have them unfold already." Lena huffed before she leaned back on her seat and sighed.

"Do you wish I never told you?" Kate then asked, adopting a more somber tone.

"No. I'd rather hear it from you than have them spit it out to my face. It doesn't make it any easier though."

"Lena, just remember, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change who you are. You can't choose your family but someone wise did once tell me that you can choose how to live your life."

"I was the one who told you that." Lena replied, her look softening.

"Yes, along with a very long lecture, if I remember correctly, on how I was throwing my life away." Kate replied and Lena very nearly smiled.

"I should probably add that to the list of things I need to tell Kara." Lena found herself saying.

Kate stayed silent and simply reached out to give Lena's hand a squeeze.

She wasn't sure how much of a comfort it would be coming from her.

But Kate swore that this time Lena won't have to go through this without her.

She owed it to her after everything Lena's done for her.

* * *

"Why didn't she just come and give this to me personally?" Alex asked a little speechless. She and Maggie were in the training room she's been utilizing with Kate, keeping away from the prying eyes and ears of any of the DEO agents sticking around.

"She said she's got some stuff she had to handle. Besides, I think she knows this is mostly going to be personal, for you and your sister you know?" Maggie replied.

"Did she watch it?" Alex found herself asking, her hands slightly trembling around the flash drive in her hands. It was a piece of her dad, after years of him being gone, of months of trying to find him again, she finally had a piece of him.

And it came with such a relief after finding out from Kate that Jeremiah's gone missing from Cadmus.

After days of finding out the truth, Alex found herself in between fearing for the worst and hoping that her dad somehow managed to escape the clutches of Cadmus.

"I'm not sure. I think she might've. Babs was the one who found it through all the files they were trying to decrypt. She could have just told Kate what it was too." Maggie provided as an answer and Alex simply nodded along.

She wasn't entirely sure what to do. Should she watch it first? Make sure there was nothing there too difficult to bear? Call Kara and her mom to watch it together? Maybe once things calm down with Kara and Clark?

Alex felt Maggie's hand on hers as they both held onto the drive. "Call your mom. Call Kara. Or not. Alex, whatever you do with this is your decision. Kate said it was like a video log of him talking to you, to Kara, and to your mom. The last video log was the day before Cadmus took Kara. I think that might've been the last day he was working at Cadmus. There could be a clue to what happened to him. If you need someone to watch through the parts meant for you, I'll be here. If you want to be with your family, I think you should call them. This is something important for all of you."

Alex smiled, a little teary-eyed. "You know you're family too, right?" Maggie chuckled and simply kissed her cheeks.

"Careful, Danvers, I think that almost sounded like a proposal." Maggie had joked and Alex would be lying if she said she didn't think about that. But she knew that would be moving too fast. She just wanted to enjoy what they had at the pace just for them.

Instead, Alex gave out a nervous chuckle as she tried to think up of something to say.

Sirens all around the DEO started blaring up before words could even form, something that only happened when huge emergencies occurred.

Alex turned to look at her girlfriend who gave her an affirmative nod. She pocketed the drive and made their way towards the command center of the base as soon as they can.

Only to find the screens filled with different news outlets from all over the country flashing the same headline as they gave their urgent update.

Immediately her thoughts went to Kara, to Clark, and even to Lena.

Things couldn't have taken a turn at a worse moment.

* * *

"How did you do it Jimmy?" Clark found himself asking James as he paced he paced back and forth. They were on the rooftop helipad at Catco. Clark was back to his usual Clark Kent threads, disguising himself as the reporter on a friendly visit. How he managed to avoid Kara on his way to seeing him, James has no idea. But he did.

It was probably a good thing too since Kara's been fuming the whole day through.

He understood of course, the issues Clark was having. He wasn't pleased, and from how Kara tried to explain in her endless rant to him about Clark earlier, he was pretty much mad.

Clark met Lex even before James met him as a reporter at _The Planet_. It's been ages, really. Lex had gotten in some major trouble just as he got out of college and Lionel had him stay at their home in Smallville.

Lex had been like his older brother, as Clark had once fondly said it. His best friend. And when people kept blaming Lex for the tragedies that happened around them, Clark stood his ground and defended him endlessly.

But things changed as they grew up. Things became complicated.

Over the years, Lionel Luthor had started to put pressure on Lex to become a man worthy of inheriting the Luthor name. There was a whole thing about trust when Lex was starting to piece together Clark's identity and Clark's refusal and hesitance to tell him. Then, if only to complicate matters, Lex started to fall in love with Clark's old childhood sweetheart, Lana.

But they soldiered on. They maintained their friendship throughout the years even as Clark started his reporter days in _The Planet._

But their friendship became more and more strained over the last decade or so.

And he saw it. James had front row seats to Clark's desperate attempts to pulling Lex back to whatever darkness that had surrounded him. It all started to fall apart when he debuted as Superman and quickly picked up steam after an incident back at the old Luthor manor at Smallville, their home burning down with Lionel, who's health was quickly falling, having been caught up in that tragic accident.

More and more news of questionable deeds under the Luthor name was brought up and soon Clark and Lex found themselves standing on opposite sides of important issues that continuously tested their friendship.

Even still, Clark had faith in him. He had faith that he would return to the side of good.

Until finally he nearly killed a good number of innocent people, endangering their lives just to test the limits of Superman's powers.

That was the first of many events.

More had followed, some having far too tragic ends.

And the rest had been history.

So yes, James understood him. He even greatly disliked Lena at the start just on the principle of who his best friend was and who her brother was. But over time, mostly due to Kara's insistence on giving Lena a chance, he saw himself coming around.

He saw what Clark was failing to see.

"I want to understand Kara, I really do… but I… I just don't know how." Clark went on. "How could she fall in love with her?"

"I know what you feel, Clark. I really do. It's a little different for me, mostly because of the feelings I had for Kara. But still, I didn't trust Lena at the start. I didn't want to trust her. But you weren't there when she came to the DEO after you brought Kara back, you didn't see the look in her eyes, the why she'd look at her, the way she tried to keep herself composed when she demanded J'onn to tell her where Kara was. I think that was when I knew, when I saw for sure what Kara sees in her. Besides, in love, the heart decides, not us, and Kara's heart decided on Lena."

Clark chuckled. "That's what Alex said, sort of."

James smiled, walking towards Clark and placing a hand on his shoulders. "In the wise words of one Kara Danvers, Lena isn't Lex, and she isn't you. They have a different story to live out and I don't think they'll let history get in the way of their future. I know it's tough, man, but you have to look past your own life and your own experiences with the Luthors. Open your eyes to a different perspective. See things the way Kara does, because I know she's considered how you see things too."

Clark nodded and sighed in defeat of trying to argue against Lena, and for a brief moment James thought that the tension would soon die down. James brought his hands down taking a deep breath as he started to relax, thankfully there won't be any Super screaming match at Catco and maybe Clark and Kara could talk things in a more civil manner now. But then his phone buzzed. Then Clark's.

Clark answered a call from Lois just as James saw the video file that was sent to him. He started playing the clip of the recent breaking news update, choosing to ignore the dozen or so messages and email coming his way that moment, particularly from Cat Grant.

"I'm coming home. Stay put Lois." Clark said rather protectively.

James looked up as Clark gave him a nod before turning to shed his clothes and flying off into the setting skies of National City.

James didn't waste any time either, deciding that heading to the DEO was the best decision, Cat Grant's demands be damned.

There were more important things to be worried about.

* * *

She was right in the thick of it that late afternoon when the news broke out at Catco. Kara didn't waste any time explaining where she was going or why she was leaving. One minute she was following Snapper around as he told her of a story he wanted Kara to pursue and the next she was running towards the elevators, heading up to the rooftop helipad and undressing to change from Kara Danvers to Supergirl. As soon as she reached the helipad and the sun kissed her skin, Kara put her clothes aside and flew faster than she had ever flown before to reach L-Corp.

One single thought was running through her mind, she had to get to Lena, she had to make sure she was safe.

She had to get there before _he_ makes a move.

Kara crashed through the balcony doors as she entered Lena's office. The CEO gasped from the loud sound that came from the shattering glass, jumping back towards her double doors. Her meeting had just ended with a few Japanese investors.

"Supergirl, what on earth are you doing?!" Lena exclaimed entirely confused at the sudden destructive clumsiness of Kara's arrival.

"I need to get you out of here." Kara replied, urgency in her tone. Lena was still trying to figure out what was happening as she took a few steps towards Kara when Jess all but stumbled inside her office, the same worried look on her face.

"Ms. Luthor, you need to – Oh, oh, hi S-Supergirl…" she stammered, a little surprised to see the Girl of Steel in Lena's office but a realization quickly settled on her features and Kara knew that Jess must've heard the news too.

"Can someone explain why people are just dropping in on my office?" Lena asked sounding a little more irritated than Kara knew she would like to be. She understood why of course, the night before they talked about the important meetings she had slated the whole week.

Now her plans were all going to be pushed aside by one little unexpected bit of news.

"L-Ms. Luthor, you need to come with me." Kara said as she tried to adopt a calmer tone. "Lex escaped from prison."

Lena's mouth parted, a light gasp escaping her lips as her face paled, before she slowly nodded. The implications of the simple sentence Kara had uttered having such a grave effect.

"You should go with Supergirl, Ms. Luthor. I'll have everyone informed of the current changes to your schedule and send people home for their safety."

"Thank you Jess." Lena managed to squeak out before her assistant excused herself.

"Ready?" Kara asked, Lena simply nodded and gathered her things, her heart beating rapidly as she tried to steady herself.

It was clear that Lex's escape had been completely unprecedented. Even Lena hadn't seen it coming.

But Kara should have. Cadmus had proven themselves crafty and difficult to deal with. She should have seen this coming, she should have been prepared.

"Let's go." Lena whispered, wrapping her arms around Kara as she lifted the CEO up in her arms.

It doesn't matter now if she saw this coming or not. It doesn't matter if Lex plans to come for her sister himself.

Because he had to get through Kara first before he could get to Lena.

And Kara wouldn't dare let that happen, not if she had any say in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys really didn't think I'd leave Lex out of this, did you? I was teasing his suit since chapter 8, would be a shame not to use that in some way… Also, decided to take a page or two from Smallville for his history with Clark :P
> 
> Chapter title is inspired by the quote 'misery starts from apparent happiness'.
> 
> On another note, so new episode… WHY WERE WE NOT GIVEN A SHOT OF KARA'S OFFICE FILLED WITH FLOWERS LENA SENT (I MEAN SHE WAS AT CATCO BEFORE LENA'S OFFICE SO… YOU KNOW…)?! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FLOWERS WERE! WHERE THEY PLUMERIAS? VIOLETS? IS SHE GOING ALL 'I DARE YOU TO LOVE ME?' (BECAUSE I DON'T PUT IT PAST LENA TO KNOW THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS). I HAVE NO CHILL LEFT!? EVEN MY FRIEND WHO DOES NOT WATCH THE SHOW AND JUST SAW THE CLIP OF THE SCENE THOUGHT IT'S CANON THEY'RE DATING AND WAS EXPECTING A KISS. ON THAT NOTE, A DIFFERENT FRIEND POINTED OUT THAT LENA'S 'NEVER HAD A FRIEND LIKE YOU' SORT OF PARALLELS 'I'VE NEVER HAD A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE' LINE FROM KORRASAMI AND WHY DOES MON-EL LOOK TOO MUCH LIKE MAKO FROM LoK. LIKE UNIVERSE, WTH?! WHY ARE YOU TEASING US LIKE THIS WHEN IT SEEMS ALL FOR NAUGHT?
> 
> Also, so they're essentially ripping off Smallville? Tess in seasons 8-10 is Lex's half-sister from Lionel's affair (her full name at the end was revealed as Lutessa Lena Luthor… like WTH kinda name is Lutessa and you don't figure out that you're related to the Luthors?). Which I guess means it's canon that Lena has a crush (is in love with) Kara since Tess had a crush/obsession of sorts with Clark/Superman. I mean, even though they kept it a guessing game on if she's evil or not she prevailed to be good (and was pretty much an MVP to the team) so for me it's canon that Lena's good (let this be the one thing the writers don't mess up, please). I may have also ended watching the episode after the Kara/Lena scene, so don't judge. That's when it ended for me.
> 
> UPNEXT: The full details of Batwoman's investigations with Cadmus, what prompted Batman to send her, and the complete details and story about Project 13 and 14… plus yeah, Lena tells Kara… angst anyone?


	24. When It All Comes Crashing Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, might want a box of tissue in hand? Here is chapter 24 featuring Kara and Lena sorting through A LOT, the complete story regarding Project: Superman/Project 13 and the spin-off Project 14, and Kara and Lena dealing with what she's been doing this whole time.
> 
> Once again, I did not complete watching the latest episode. The last episode ended with sanvers for me, no one tell me otherwise…
> 
> Sorry for the delay in update… This may be the longest chapter yet, so there is that… ;)

"You'll be safe here." was Kara's first words as soon as they landed in the DEO. The whole building was on lock down, only allowing access to top agents they cleared to stay. Kara rushed past the command center, carrying Lena in her arms, before setting her down in an empty training room. Judging from the slightly pulverized blocks of concrete as Lena scanned the room, she quickly surmised that it was Kara's.

Kara was a little shaky as she started pacing. Lena noticed she seemed to do that a lot when she was overwhelmed or slightly frustrated as a way to clear her mind. Kara had been rambling on how it would be safer for Lena to stay there for a while, until they figure out how Lex escaped. Until they're sure that she's not a target. "But with the history of his attacks on you, I'm pretty sure you should stay here. It would be safer." Kara decided as she went on and on about how they'll handle the situation quickly and put him back where he belongs.

Lena was barely able to focus on what Kara was saying for the most part. Still completely shaken. She didn't know what to make of any of this. Neither Lillian nor Westfield had given her a warning about this, a heads up. They didn't gloat about their plans or its brilliance for that matter.

 _Was this planned? Did they have something to do with this or was this all just Lex? Did he see an opening and just took it?_ Lena asked herself trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle she found.

Because it wasn't in her plans to have to deal with her brother personally.

 _The suit!_ Lena then realized just as Kara came up with yet another brilliant plan of keeping Lena safe at the DEO. She had been listing plans A through Z and somehow she took Lena's gasp as a reaction to what she was saying instead of the realization that it had been in the plans all along.

They kept building the suit.

Lena kept seeing one revised blueprint after the other in passing through the data and documents they've stolen, from what she barely gathered and observed during her trip to their now defunct secret base.

_They kept building it because Lex knew he was going to use it…_

Lena cursed under her breath for completely missing a contingency plan for an occasion where her brother escapes. That is, their exact current predicament.

An oversight that could cost them now.

She managed to convince Lillian enough, and Westfield too, to trust her. Lex, however, was a different story. He could believe in Lena, be blinded by what he wanted in the first place and have his sister by his side, or he could see right through her act.

Instantly, Lena knew, she knew she had to tell Kara the truth, right then and there. There was no point in hiding it anymore. She needed to know.

Lex's escape had sent everyone into a frenzy and it was the least Lena could do.

Lena's thoughts, however, were suddenly interrupted when Kara suddenly and accidentally activated a hologram, a woman dressed in a shade of blue that Lena couldn't exactly place where she's seen. She was stunning, elegant, and graceful with a commanding presence.

And her eyes, her eyes shone the same blue as Kara's.

"Mom!" Kara then gasped, bringing her attention from her own panic back to the present and Lena managed to finally register just how rattled Kara was.

"My dear darling Kara, how can I help you?" the hologram replied.

Lena looked back at Kara a little surprised.

Kara looked a bit speechless. "Just, just the usual saving the world thing." Kara replied as she regarded Lena with a sheepish smile.

"Your mom looks lovely." Lena replied softly, a little lost with everything that's suddenly happening around her.

"It's all I have left of her. She created an A. I. to house her memories and emotions and uploaded it into my ship's programming. Have I ever shown you my ship? It's just right in the next room."

"I don't think you have. Maybe later." Lena replied.

"And who is your lovely friend?" Alura had asked.

"Um, well, she's… She's my, um, matched. My mate." Kara had explained. There was a crinkle that formed between her mother's brows and somehow Lena understood Krypton's society a little bit more.

A bit of courage shone on in Lena, ready to defend Kara. If anything, she didn't need to have someone undermining her relationship with Kara again.

But Alura smiled, the confusion having passed. "Kara, you are one of the smartest and kindest of our people. There's no need to be nervous child. I am sure you've chosen wisely."

Kara breathed a sigh of relief but before she could say anything else Winn had knocked on the door. "Kara, we need you." he had said, taking a peak inside. "Oh, hey Lena. Don't worry. We're handling the situation. We'll send Lex back sooner than you can learn Kryptonese."

"She's actually pretty decent now." Kara then said as she walked towards Winn. "She's a fast learner."

"Wait, you taught her already?!" Winn then exclaimed, as if he didn't see any of this coming. The two made their way out before Lena could even fully react, Kara mouthing her apologies and reassurances that the DEO will handle Lex soon as she excused herself.

Leaving Lena with an A. I. hologram of Kara's mother in the room.

Which really didn't help her in getting her thoughts together. Things still kept happening a little too fast.

"So, you are the human who's won my daughter's affections?" Alura then asked, catching Lena's attention. "My Kara is very special. I meant what I said, I trust Kara had chosen wisely. It leads me to assume you're the best your world could offer to the best ours could."

Lena stared back in awe of the hologram, she was nothing but a program made of memories and yet she could tell she truly loved Kara and cared for her. A part of her found it ironic that even a hologram A. I. could be better than Lillian as a mother. Kara had shared her sentiments about her parents not being perfect, but they were still her parents. They still adored Kara and loved her greatly.

And it was then that something Alura had said caught Lena's attention from the dozen or so different thoughts running through the current mess that was in her mind. Perhaps answering such a trivial thing could help untangle the knots in her mind and clear her thoughts? At the very least, it could help her focus on one thing and perhaps she could get the ball rolling.

She really didn't have much of anything to do anyways. If Kara was in an important meeting, she couldn't just impose herself in on it now, could she? Lena was well aware that some agents were still very wary of her. Besides, if she was welcome to attend, Winn would have told her instead of simply asking for Kara. After all, everyone in the DEO saw Supergirl carrying her inside. They knew a Luthor was in the building, they knew she was there.

The thought of it only made it clearer to her that perhaps not all trusted her presence now that Lex was out.

Lena took a deep breath.

She settled that the best thing to do as she tried to calm herself down was to at least learn a thing or two more about Kara to piece together the rest of the puzzle even she didn't know of.

"Tell me, you said Kara was special? I hope you know, she truly is very special to me. She's like the very air I breathe, the beat of my heart. She's my strength, especially now that I feel like just giving up and letting things unfold. But that's not what you meant when you said it, I can tell there's more to it. What exactly did you mean?" Lena had asked.

"She is one of the brightest minds on Krypton. Even for such a young age. Many believed she would become the youngest member of the science council. She takes so much after her father when it comes to that. She can be fierce, perhaps she takes after me in that regard, and she stands for her beliefs and fights for them relentlessly. She's the best of me and the best of Zor-El. Kryptonians, after all, are given life in a way different from yours. Each one made as perfect as they can be, with the best of their progenitor's genetic make-up. Shame that my daughter won't be able to have any children of her own, I doubt your world has our technology for that."

Lena smiled a bittersweet smile, a bit of pride shining through at the thought of Kara essentially being Krypton's pride and joy, and a tinge of sadness slipping through at the thought of Alura's sentiments on Kara's line.

But that wasn't what she wanted to know. Besides, there was that certain little project that surely counts…

She had heard from Barry, and from James over the holidays, how Lex had broken into the Fortress before...

The interest in Supergirl when they've found success with Conner... Kara's genetic make-up being far more superior compared to her cousin's... Surely, Lex had stumbled upon something in the Fortress in his quest to topple over Superman during their confrontations. He was obsessed with the Man of Steel, why would he suddenly be interested in the Girl of Steel? Other than suddenly showing up almost a year and a half ago, why would Cadmus shift their attention?

Because the speed and efficiency of which they operated suggests that Lex had his people, if not himself, looking into Supergirl, watching her fights, learning her strengths and weaknesses and evaluating her potentials.

But Lex was a perfectionist. To put that much effort in studying Supergirl all while running all of his other experiments, he wouldn't waste time on it if he didn't know something else. Something that would sell the idea that the fledgling hero of National City was worth all the investments instead of perfecting Conner or chasing after Superman.

There was a shift, an undeniable and noticeable shift, in Cadmus' interest that was now beginning to dawn upon Lena. All their efforts with Superman was to get rid of him, take him out of the picture.

They don't need him anymore.

But with Kara? Supergirl? Cadmus had constantly been trying to test her, weaken her, leave her for dead if not to _attain_ her in one way, shape, or form.

"Something else concerns you?" Alura had asked, starting to become suspicious of what Lena could be thinking.

And suddenly, Lena knew what to ask.

"Why is Kara the most powerful Kryptonian on earth?" Lena asked and Alura grew silent. "I'm sorry if that's too straightforward, but I'm afraid that some very bad people want her because of it. No, actually, I'm certain of it. I'm afraid my brother already knows and he might use that information to taint your daughter's legacy or to harm Kara. Please understand, I won't ask if I didn't think it could be crucial to the things happening now. I need to know why he's interested in Kara. He's a dangerous man, and he's current;y running free. I'm afraid of what he might do."

The hologram that was what was left of Kara's mother took a deep breath, her expression changing. "I'm sorry but I'm not authorized to give you that information."

Lena stared at Alura incredulously. _So there_ was _something!_

Which meant that she knew what Lex would definitely want to get his hands on Kara as soon as he can now that he was free.

" _Please_ , I can't stress this enough. Some very bad people want to get their hands on your daughter because of that reason." Lena pleaded. She doesn't really beg but in this case she would.

Because every slipping second could put Kara's life in danger.

Alura once again denied her of her request.

Lena took a deep breath. She could easily find herself running around in circles against a stubborn A. I. but she figured she could use this as practice for telling Kara the truth. It was a bargaining chip, and Lena hated it, but she had to.

She needed to know why Lex wanted Supergirl.

Why Cadmus was casting their shadow over Kara.

Because one way or another, she was going to get her answer. Because she knew from the dread that was building deep inside her that she was inevitably going to see Lex again. Quite possibly soon.

And she wasn't going to face her brother and be caught unprepared for anything. She would do anything to protect Kara and keep him away from her.

* * *

Kate wasted no time in marching into the DEO, Maggie noted. The whole department was on a frenzy, J'onn currently briefing his top agents in a conference room with M'gann, Mon-El, and Kara along with them. James and Winn also attended the meeting, with James having some insider info on Lex and what he might do next with all of his past experiences with him as Superman's best friend.

Which left Maggie, NCPD detective who was dating their best agent but is not exactly a DEO agent herself Maggie, waiting at the command center with a bunch of tech's monitoring National City and keeping high alert on everything.

She was getting antsy with everything that had just happened. She wasn't exactly the stay put and wait kind of girl. Sure, she knew that timing was everything and sometimes waiting is the answer, but in situations like this, Maggie needed to take action.

She needed to _do_ something.

And thankfully she didn't have to pace back and forth as she tried not to burst into the conference room that J'onn was holding his meeting. Thankfully Kate had arrived five minutes past J'onn called for the meeting.

"Where are all of them? I'm expecting J'onn to be running a tight ship." Kate commented almost out of breath.

Almost.

Kate didn't wait for any of the busy techs to stand and take notice of her or ask what she needed. Instead she took charge, all but shoving one of them away from the keyboards, connecting a flash drive to the network as she took over the screens to bring up the notes, files, _everything_ , that she had been working to decrypt with Oracle.

The agent she had thrown over tried to raise his qualms against Kate Kane, clamoring that she had no right, but one glare from her redheaded ex-fiancee was enough to shut him up.

"W-would you like any help?" the agent asked as he picked himself up.

But Kate had ignored him.

"Do you want me to get everyone?" Maggie had then asked.

"Yes, please." Kate replied, barely taking her eyes of the screen in front of her.

And Maggie had taken that as her cue to leave.

The walk to the conference room wasn't long and when she opened the doors everyone's arguments came to a brief and abrupt halt. James looked tired, exasperatingly trying to explain to one of the DEO agents that they don't know Lex well enough to figure out how he operates when Maggie stepped into the room, commanding their attention. He was about to make another argument when J'onn raised his hand at James to stop him.

"Is something wrong?" Kara had asked, concern written all over her face but it wasn't Maggie who answered.

It was J'onn. "No, but it looks like luck is on our side. Kane is here with answers." he said knowingly, nodding towards the door as he walked towards where Maggie stood. "Let's not have her wait longer than she needs to."

"That was fast." Alex whispered as she joined Maggie on their way back. "When you said she was busy with stuff, I thought she was still digging and decrypting."

"No, I think she found something she didn't expect to find and she needed to tell someone it pertained to." Maggie replied.

By the time they reached the command center, Winn took over what Kate was doing and Batwoman, still in her civilian clothes, stood next to J'onn. The two of them were sharing the same look of consternation about all of what's happening.

It didn't take another minute for a flash of blue and red to suddenly appear at the command center. Superman arrived with a grave expression on his face. He made his way to James as he acknowledged Kate with a nod.

Kara kept her distance from her cousin, clearly still on edge with what had happened just that morning.

"Lois?" James asked if only to ease the growing tension with the silence that took over them.

"Took her to where Lucy was." was Superman's curt response.

And somehow, despite the forgotten introductions and lack of revelations to Maggie, she pieced together that Superman was Clark Kent of _The Daily Planet._

Because how many people named Lois had a sister named Lucy who James was supposed to kno?. It was awfully too convenient for Clark Kent to be friends with James and be dating Lois Lane – everyone knew they were like the power couple of journalism back in Metropolis – too.

Plus the built, the height, the glasses that really don't help just like in Kara's case…

…and his incessant calls to one Kara Danvers over the holidays to check in after the thing with Kryptonite Man…

…it was the only explanation really.

Not to mention that Clark Kent became at odds with Lex Luthor when Superman came into the scene and the feud between the world's greatest foes had begun shortly after was a little too much of a coincidence.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Winn then let out as file after file started all popping up on the main screen, the files from the drive finally being accessed. It was like thousands of windows were spilling onto the screen until it stopped and landed on one.

A window that was like a homepage to a few linked files promptly titled 'Project Superman'

Kara gasped as she saw the titles, Kate asking Winn to open the folder for the base designs. She, Mon-El, James, and Winn all looked pretty surprised. J'onn and M'gann weren't, for the most part, and Superman seemed more infuriated than anything else. Alex knew, of course, after being told by Kate a short time ahead, but still she was at awe of the intricate plans being brought up on screen. Files pertaining to studies on Superman's DNA, key results of blood work-up, and notes on important observations were flashing on screen. It was a lot to process.

Even Maggie was left speechless at the work Cadmus had done.

Kate took a deep breath as she took control of the situation. "Guess it's time to delve into the truth." she began.

"They're building their own Superman. Cadmus is." Supergirl then said, interrupting Kate.

"Oh, it's more than that. What do you think all the experiments were for? Cruelty for cruelty's sake? Randomly building their own Frankenstein's monster? They want the ultimate bioweapon, Supergirl, and what's more of an ultimate bioweapon than a Super?" Kate replied.

It was clear on Kara's face that the piece of truth Kate had given her was just simply unacceptable and Maggie could only share the sentiment.

All those dead beings in pods, all the failed experiments.

All so they can grow their own Superman.

"Why didn't they just abduct Kal?" she then replied.

"They did, like a lot of times." James then pointed out. "Well Lex, not Cadmus. They weren't exactly active most of that time or under Lex's charge."

"But this is why all those Cyborg Supermen were made, and, and Kryptonite Man… an obsession to make a Superman he can control…" Winn then found himself saying.

"Well, brainwashing a Kryptonian isn't exactly a perfectly permanent solution for them." Kate then said. "Lex wanted more. And all this time, he kept it a secret."

"You know from the start, didn't you?" Kara then asked. "You knew what Lex was doing with Cadmus?"

Kate slowly nodded. "Like I said, a friend asked me a favor and he wouldn't have been able to get me to say yes without telling me."

"Did you?" Kara then followed up, this time turning to Superman and acknowledging her cousin for the first time.

"I did, eventually." Superman replied. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I…"

"You what? Didn't trust me?" Kara then asked, emotions starting to run high.

Superman looked speechless and Maggie could tell in the way he struggled to say anything, on the expression on his face, that trust wasn't the issue.

"No. Batman had trouble telling Superman anything without concrete leads about Project 13, plus they were having their own bro's quarrel." Kate commented, prompting a grunt from Superman himself. She rolled her eyes, ignoring him as she went on. "Supes didn't know anything until after the investigation started. After that, well, the league's been having arguments on what to do and what was just."

"Wait, what? Why? Cadmus is making a bioweapon that I assume they're going to use to kill all of us? Shouldn't we be stopping them? And whoever this Batman is, if he knew about Project 13, then why didn't he have any concrete proof of anything before the raids?" Mon-El then asked, jumping in, completely lost on what was going on.

Well, perhaps not completely.

If anything, the more pressing question was how did Batman know anything about a Project 13 by Cadmus?

"Project 12." Kate replied coolly and catching Mon-El's curiosity.

"Project 12? Oh, oh… we've only found eleven projects by Cadmus during the raids but the reports we have say that twelve projects have been shut down." Winn replied as he popped open a separate window on his monitor, looking up anything they had on reference to a Project 12. "How did we miss this on the reports?"

"Multiverse breaches, alien invasions, Cadmus attacks?" Maggie replied dryly which made Winn mumble something incoherent in response. "But he does make a good point." she added before turning to face Kate, suspicion in her tone.

"That's because Batman found Project 12 in Gotham." Kate then replied. "Check the other folders you unceremoniously opened." she said, addressing Winn.

"Geez, sorry." Winn managed to mumble as a response. "Here we go… a report on a pod with the label 'XII', something about an old LuthorCorp facility, and a log about the Joker's escape from Arkham… why do I not like where this is headed?"

"Do you want me to explain the gist of it or do you want to narrate incoherent thoughts?" Kate retorted and Maggie had to admit she almost chuckled at her exchange with Winn but a part of her felt sorry for him.

Somehow she had a vague idea of just how pissed off a highly stressed out Kate had been as she was trying to get all that was necessary up when Winn forcibly ushered her aside to work on the computer. In his defense, it was his thing.

"By all means, floor is yours." Winn then replied with a gulp as he pulled up the files on the main monitor, finally caving in completely under Kate's gaze.

Kate sighed, taking over the conversation. "I wasn't personally there but I did read the logs and talked to the Dark Knight himself. The Joker, as the report stated, managed to escape Arkham a few months prior. Apparently, the Clown Prince of Crime and his gang ended up hiding in this old factory that used to be part of LuthorCorp. Batman, Red Robin, and the younger Robin chased after him and discovered their location, a fight broke loose and while most his men were dealt with and eventually taken in there was an explosion somewhere in the facility. The Joker disappeared, assumed dead – he clearly wasn't – but the explosions lead Batman to an underground set of labs. There were hidden caches of kryptonite there but for the most part the place had been abandoned." Kate explained all while Winn kept pulling up files of pictures taken of the facility until he pulled up a picture of the empty pod labelled 'XII" and a rather derelict looking laboratory.

"The pod was empty when they found it, the facility half destroyed underground. Red Robin managed to retrieve the logs saved from the pod's computer unit while Robin and Batman explored the facility. That's when they saw him, Project 12.

"The way he talked about him, it was almost too vivid to imagine… and painful to hear... He was an unstable clone. See, Cadmus had no way of replicating Kryptonian genes, that's why most of the first experiments looked like hybrids of something. They used gene splicing from other aliens to provide a base template but the Kryptonian genes kept tearing the other alien components apart. That's why they moved to cyborgs, and then, well, they discovered that human genes could also be used although it was unstable. Project 12 was close to perfect as they could get, but, based from the logs, something wrong happened when they tried to age him after implanting his memories and he woke up highly disoriented, attacking the facility in retaliation. He killed everyone there before his cells degenerated. When Batman and Robin found him, he was just skin and bones. Barely alive. At first, the Dark Knight had thought it was Superman. He was given a black stealth suit to wear with a silver print instead of the yellow and red of his crest on the chest. It made him wonder what could have been done to him, how long he was there, or if he was indeed Superman. They took him out to the greet the rising day, regenerate his cells with the radiation from the yellow sun, but his instability only caused him to further wither away."

"He died?" Kara asked, a noticeable crack in her voice heard, and when Maggie turned to look at her she could see a tear rolling down her cheek. Maggie didn't need to be told to see that she felt for _them_.

Cadmus' projects.

Kate nodded slowly to reaffirm what Kara had asked. Maggie then felt Alex's hand reach out for hers, clear that she didn't know this part of the story either. There was worry and concern on her face, the unspoken fear of what Cadmus could have done with her father if he had not escaped them was still lingering in her eyes.

"The files in the computers attached to the pods had encrypted files. The further along they got with the project, the more the files were and the heavier the encryption. Most of the experiments never made it out of the gestation pods. Based on the information we gathered, their goal was to create an adult-aged Superman but they never could successfully pull it off. Project 12 was in a sleeping pod, and he was uploaded with memories –"

"You mean his programming? How Cadmus programmed him?" James then asked, cutting in.

"No, I meant memories." Kate then replied. "Like I said, when alien DNA and cybernetic parts failed, they tried using a human template. Westfield tried it out with his own DNA but his own DNA backfired spectacularly. It degraded. He tried combining cybernetics and his human template with Superman's DNA but it still failed. So they used a different human template, one with genes compatible with Superman's. It was more of a Hail Mary attempt but it worked. They encountered problems with aging the hybrid clone but they managed to solve them eventually, hence Project 13. They were careful in building him, and now, now they're close to operational. Recent tests show promising results. He's been aged to his teens and memories have been uploaded."

"Again, programming, right? They essentially programmed _it_ to be their killing machine." James stated.

"Kate, you said _memories._  What do you know that I don't?" Superman finally asked.

"Cadmus had other operating projects called genomorphs with abilities of their own. Winn, if you please?" Kate replied, prompting Winn to pull up the file window on them. An alien looking like creature popped up on their screen, some of different designs. They were labeled D.N.aliens, clones that Cadmus created for the very purpose they served. "One of them has telepathic abilities. He probed your mind. He has access to the complete memory banks where it's stored and he's the one who edited the memories together under Westfield's supervision, although Westfield doesn't seem to have clear access to the data, at least from what I know. I'm not sure on that. All I know is Westfield has confirmation that the memory files that he wanted uploaded were uploaded. Like he had a way to confirm them but not see them. I don't know exactly why or how the genomorph could do it, make the memory bank, block Westfield or hell, even Lillian Luthor's access. But from what I gathered, Lex doesn't fully trust Westfield and it could be that he didn't want anyone to know who Superman was." Kate edified.

"Because he wants to take me down himself?" Superman then found himself asking.

"Maybe, I don't know." Kate then replied. "We got the video logs of the complete memories uploaded to Project 13 from the genomorph named Dubbilex."

"The one who possibly probed my mind?" Superman asked.

"Yes." Kate had replied.

And right on cue Winn found a file on the memory log from Superman's. Each labeled differently. There were memory logs that required restricted access codes, most labeled as memories from different ages including his childhood.

Winn avoided the files that could reveal Superman's identity, each simply but meticulously labelled by year with an added note of central events for each memory Superman lived out. Winn finally selected the memory of Superman's first heroic outing, saving a plane from falling out of the sky.

Maggie watched in awe and wonder as they were taken into Superman's own perspective of things.

"He has Superman's memories…" James then finally muttered, understanding just what Kate had meant.

"Yeah." Kate replied. "I don't exactly know how emotions function for clones and such but data files showed a correlation to certain memories they had him access in a dream like state and the production of certain chemicals that are produced when we're happy, or sad, or excited, the likes."

"So it's like he's reliving things?" Maggie then asked.

"But wouldn't that make him think he's Superman?" Alex added.

"Won't he have his own identity?" Kara followed up, concerned about Project 13.

"I don't know." Kate answered truthfully. "I think the memories are mostly just to give him context of who he is or was from, so to speak. From what was explained to me, he's a functioning, conscious being who is capable of making his own decisions and his own memories."

"He's alive." Kara then said. "But his tied down to what he can remember of my cousin."

"Wait… um… why are there files under the name Alexander? Is that the name they gave him? Is that his own memories?" Winn then asked, clicking on the file.

"Ah, wait, hang on…" Kate tried to stop him and before she could fully finish what she was saying Winn started playing a memory file under the name Alexander.

Soon they saw Lillian Luthor, poised in her ways playing chess with them in the room.

Or whoever Alexander was. Winn seems to think it was the clone.

But Maggie, Maggie had an unsettling feeling that they were memories from Project 13's human template.

Kate never did tell Alex anything about his human component, making Maggie a little bit curious of who this template was at the time.

Now however, it was clearer than the day itself.

There was a discussion about move sets as Alexander won. Not shortly after, just as they were about to start another game, Lionel Luthor's domineering presence filled the scene.

Kate looked uneasy as the memory continued to play. Next to Lionel was a little four your old girl, innocence shining in her green eyes as she looked up to shyly meet Lillian and Lex. She was clutching on an impossibly large teddy bear, a small backpack still on her back. "Stop." Kate said, it was a clear command.

Since Winn was completely entranced on what was happening, Kate decided to reach for the keyboard herself and managed to pause the memory. She didn't look comfortable going forward.

Maggie looked up and noticed Kate take her eyes off the screen. She scanned the room and saw the confusion on Mon-El, James, and Winn's faces. Alex watched, realization dawning on her too, while J'onn, M'gann, and Superman himself seemed to already know what it was they were watching.

"You didn't watch them." Superman then said almost in a whisper. It was statement, not a question. That much was clear.

"I think I crossed too many lines already." Kate simply replied.

"Wait." Kara then said taking a few steps closer to the screen, her eyes recognizing the child on the screen. "That child, that's… that's…"

"That's _me_." the answer came, unexpectedly from somewhere behind their little clustered group. Lena Luthor was the very definition of cool, calm, and poised as everyone turned their attention to her.

"Thanks for stopping that although showing off my prowess in chess against Lex at the age of four would have been quite the show." she then said to Kate.

Kate smiled weakly and nodded as Lena walked nervously towards them. She tried to keep herself composed for the most part, but the look of confusion in Kara's eyes as she kept her gaze steady at Lena was surely having its effects on her.

"That's… that's Lex's memory?" Kara asked her.

"Conner _is_ , after all, a clone of your cousin and my brother. They wanted him to have his memories too."

"Conner?" Kara stared at her with an unreadable expression on her face. She stood straighter, less relaxed, as she searched for truth and answers from Lena. " _They_? Cadmus? Lena, what are you talking about?"

If Maggie was damn sure about herself and her abilities as a detective, she would say that she could see Lena cracking under the pressure of Kara's gaze. And on normal days, Maggie would be proud to say that.

But right now she just felt bad. She wanted to be wrong.

She knew, of course, why Lena knew all this. Although naming Project 13 Conner was something Maggie never knew about, she wasn't sure if Alex knew either.

It didn't help that this was the first time in her life that she found herself unable to decipher what's going on in someone's head. Kara had made it difficult for her to read anything about how she feels or thinks. All Maggie could guess was 'not pleased'.

Because if it were Maggie, she knew she'd rather have this conversation somewhere else, in private.

Not in the middle of the DEO's command center.

A little too late now though.

Lena took a deep breath and turned to face Winn, asking him to scoot over. She tried to avoid Kara's gaze as she took control and cleared up a few of the unnecessary files Winn accidentally opened up.

In the end there were only a few key windows opened. Project 13, or Conner, as Lena called him. A few of his initial baseline test results including the data collected from both Superman and Lex, and the initial results of combining their genes were all set to one side of the screen.

In the middle were failed tests of combination of samples from Westfield's DNA with Superman labelled 'Westfield' combined with 'K' and 'before exposure' and 'after exposure'. Below the windows were tests of samples from Lex combined with something simply labelled 'X'. The labels for K clearly being a blind code for Superman.

K for Kryptonian.

And 'X'?

'X' was combined with Lex's DNA, but mutated in the petri dish.

Before being combined with something simply labelled 'LL' but the cells were easily destroyed.

Finally, success was reached when 'X' was combined with a simple 'L'.

To the right of the screen was a base design of a female with the label 'Project 14'.

"Lena… what is this?" Kara asked and Maggie couldn't tell if she was more angered by what she saw or what Lena wasn't telling her.

Lena once again took a deep breath. "It's what my brother's after this time, other than settling a score with your cousin."

Lena refused to look at Kara even after Kara had turned her attention to her, crinkle forming between her brows.

"He wants a child?" Winn asked confused.

"He wants an army. An army like Conner but better." Lena simply stated back. "Something he won't achieve without _you_." she replied before taking a quick glance at Kara.

And Maggie would be lying if she didn't feel overwhelmed with that knowledge.

* * *

"He wants _what?_ " Alex exclaimed, not being able to quite keep her temper in.

She knew, Kate warned her, about Project 14.

She understood the army part considering just about a week ago they had to deal with an army of dead aliens reanimated with kryptonite cores and a one very nasty Kryptonite Man.

But Lex… _him_ wanting Kara for whatever nefarious purpose, including an army, was the line that Alex won't let him cross.

"Okay, okay, wait, slow down. We get the army part. But why Kara?" Winn asked just as lost as pretty much everyone else in the room.

J'onn hummed before stepping up closer to the screen. "Their different. It's almost unnoticeable but if you look at the data on solar energy absorption, cell regeneration, and if you study the micrographs of Supergirl's samples, they're different from Superman's." he pointed out.

"Wait, what?" Winn then asked, his neck whipping around to the corner where J'onn stood almost too fast that Alex was sure he might've hurt himself. "Supergirl's samples… oh, oh God… that's what Brainy and-and Lightning Lad was saying… more would rise… more Supergirl!"

"The sample labeled 'X' is from Supergirl. I thought  that was evident from the fact that Project 14 is a female clone, Agent Schott, and the fact that combining Supergirl's DNA with Lex's resulted in mutations unlike the perfect combination with Superman's. It means that it's a different DNA. And that means that there's a difference between the genetic make-up of the two." J'onn then confirmed.

Once Alex had calmed down, not fully but to an acceptable level to get her functioning again. Sure enough, she saw what J'onn had been talking about. Blood chemistry was slightly different, they had different base levels too on important markers.

Actually, Kara's seemed by far better compared to Clark's.

"And they did have my blood…" Kara then added almost speechless. "I'm guessing 'LL' was Lillian Luthor's?" Kara asked, keeping her eyes on the screen this time, barely looking at Lena.

Lena simply nodded in return. Silence hung between them as Alex saw Kara gripping the back of Lena's chair a little too hard. Kara had a perfect mask of calmness on, but her eyes had been burning up with an anger that's building inside, Alex can tell. The crinkle between her brows were clue number one.

The cold silence that surrounded her and Kara gritting her teeth together, clenching her jaws, were clues number two and three.

Lena kept bringing up files on Lex's DNA and sample work-up alongside two files relating to Westfield and one with Lillian. "Okay, but what about those samples?" James then asked curious to know whose DNA matched 'X'.

Lena took another deep breath. "They tried combining Kara's DNA with Lex's but the difference in one aspect of their physiology resulted in the mutation. They're using gene splicing after all, replicating Kara, not exactly producing a progeny, so they tried my mother's. When that failed, they decided to use mine."

"So Project 14…" Mon-El started to say as he tried to follow the conversation. "She's like your love child together?"

Alex was about to glare at Mon-El but her sister beat her to the punch.

"What?" Mon-El looked confused as to the glares thrown at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kryptonians use birthing chambers on Krypton to perfect their progeny. Sure, Project 14 is a replication of Kara and Lena, obtained through gene splicing, but she's still half Lena and half Kara. Half human and half Kryptonian. They bypassed failing reproduction by using a different method to create the child."

"More like they wanted to create a living weapon of destruction." Winn then said in a passing comment to the Daxamite. "But in some strange way, that's true."

"Can we not… it makes me feel like Conner is Superman and Lex's progeny if you say it like that…" James then commented, grimacing. Alex did note, however, that he started to call Project 13 as Conner.

And Alex had to hand it to Lena for giving him a name. It made things feel more personal. It made Conner feel like he's a person instead of an experiment.

Kara huffed, ignoring the exchanges. "When you were attacked in your office last Thanksgiving…"

"That was Dubbilex visiting to probe my memories." Lena admitted. "Cadmus already took my sample beforehand."

And it was killing Alex, to hear all of this. The way Mon-El had put it, this could have been a joyous thing. Sort of. Weird science aside.

But the fact that Kara's DNA was taken from her when she was abducted, that her memories had been probed without her knowing it, without her permission, and that the same happened with Lena despite willingly playing along Cadmus' plans, made the situation much worse. The ethics of science is being called into question in all of this, and more than that, Camdus had decided to play God, creating life in the most unusual ways.

Mon-El made a point about Krypton's birthing chambers, and it was probably leaving an unpleasant taste in Kara's mouth right now.

There was a version of her in Project 14, most likely a young child if not a teen. She was probably the closest thing to a child that Kara could ever have with Lena.

And Cadmus had gone and twisted it.

Alex knew it wasn't too late. They could recover her, save her and Conner from a fate worse than death with Cadmus. But it doesn't mean that it wasn't going to be hard to process everything.

And things were only made harder by the fact that Kara was barely turning her attention to Lena at the moment.

Alex never saw Kara like this before. Like some storm inside her was raging on, tormenting her as she pieced things together.

And Kara was no fool, more than anyone else, Alex knew that. She knew where everything was heading.

"Uh, no offense, I mean, kinda grossed out that Lillian would want to volunteer her DNA to be mixed with Supergirl's. Like, just no. Kara deserves better than that. Project 14 too. But, why didn't it work?" Winn then asked.

Lena was about to address Winn when Kara spoke. "Because my cells destroyed hers. Normally Kryptonian DNA is not compatible with human DNA, that's why we can't produce a progeny with humans. Lillian's DNA was simply that. But Westfield, Lex, and Lena, they had theirs mutated. Based on the data on screen, the micrographs and microscopy videos, that's why there are two sets of files on the screen for Paul Westfield. I'm guessing the before and after were pertaining to mutating his genetic material. Did I miss anything?"

"No." Lena then replied.

"So does that mean that Lex and Lena's DNA are mutated?" Winn followed up.

"When we were younger Lex found this strange material somewhere near the woods surrounding the Luthor Manor. He had this room that he sort of transformed into a lab and he experimented on the material. I didn't know it then but it's some sort of alien matter. He couldn't contain some of the experiments he carried out and an explosion happen that exposed both Lex and I to a radioactive component of his samples. The incident was pretty much covered up as something terrible happening in the kitchen. Clearly, that day half the kitchen staff were fired but the whole thing was kept out of the news. As for the accident, it didn't do much out of the ordinary, just gave us higher cell counts, an ability to fight sickness and recover faster with injuries."

"Which meant that your cells could repair themselves from any damages?" Clark asked, sounding less angry and more intrigued and Lena nodded in response.

"Well that explains a few things." he added, mostly to himself and Alex guessed that he must be reminiscing things from their past.

"From what I've gathered, Westfield tried to repeat the experiment on himself. His vanity, I suppose, of having their successful clone be based on him as a human template was what prompted him. But it didn't work the way he wanted it. A key component was missing from him." Lena then went on with great disgust.

Winn was going to ask out loud what but Alex caught his attention and pointed at Lena's test results with Lex's.

All that was needed were the words to reconfirm everything, really, the words that Lena must have hated when she realized what it all meant.

That she and Lex shared the same DNA. That their results indicated that they were half-siblings.

It would seem that the Luthor gene, once mutated, was the perfect complement to a Super's gene.

James cleared his throat. "That still doesn't answer why Kara?"

"I actually have an answer for that." Clark then said looking uneasy before noticing Lena's reaction as she turned to briefly look at him, the wordless exchange enough for Alex to know that they _both_ knew why.

"Jimmy, remember when Lex visited the Fortress _uninvited_? He managed to access files on Uncle Zor-El's works and experiments." Clark then started, turning her attention to James. "I'm not sure if Kara knows or remembers it, but before I was born there was a threat on Krypton in the form of a phantom plague. Most details about it were lost in the archive."

"Most of it was false anyways. There was a whole conspiracy thing going on about it." Kara then supplemented. "Nevertheless, my father _was_ worried about it. But what does this have to do with anything?"

Clark took a deep breath before slowly blowing it out. "False or not, he took precautions. I don't think you were supposed to know, or _we_ were supposed to know, but he altered your biochemistry so that you could survive anything, defend yourself against any threat. I don't think he was expecting kryptonite but… it's what allows you to develop your powers beyond any other Kryptonian under a yellow sun."

Alex was a little in awe after hearing Superman indirectly admit that Supergirl was essentially stronger than him.

That her sister _was_ more powerful than him.

Kara looked a little shocked by the knowledge before she scoffed. "Of course, I mean he created a virus to kill all alien life for Krypton's sake, why wouldn't he alter his daughter's biochemistry?"

There was pain in her tone, and anger, and frustration, and a whole lot of other emotions thrown into the mix that immediately alerted Alex of what could be going through Kara's head right now.

Clark looked apologetic, and Lena looked all sorts of torn herself, wanting to comfort Kara without knowing how. There was just so many things to process.

"Ms. Luthor, Project 14's state?" J'onn then asked, breaking the building tension.

"She's not active." Lena replied. "Conner is close to being activated, however. They initially kept them apart, Conner was kept at the last base you raided while Project 14 in the main base. The only thing I know for sure is they've started on working on her. I think the whole attack was really just to gather more data and to provide a distraction as they moved Conner to their new main base. We still don't have any idea where that is, do we Kate?"

"No. The GPS is still a moving blip but it looks like they're closely circling an area. I don't actually know what on earth their dong with transport but I assume they're being careful, possibly trying to throw anyone following them off the trail."

"Do we know if the GPS is _still_ where it's supposed to be?" Alex then found herself asking.

"I put it in Conner's hand before he was placed back in the pod. Dubbilex is the only one who can activate it without reopening it thanks to his abilities, and with the damages done to the base and the chambers they kept him in, I doubt the pod would be opened there. They won't do anything to put him in danger or damage him in any way."

Kara looked torn, lips parting with an intention to ask a question or say something, but no words would come out.

Lena's explanations and replies were enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

It wasn't ideal, but it was clear now.

And Kara struggled to say it, to say the truth out loud. Alex felt herself struggling as well. She wanted to comfort Kara, to help her process this. But how could she? Lena had always wanted to tell her, she simply struggled with her own fears. Alex understood that.

She understood why Lena had to do it too.

The situation for the truth to come out being less than ideal didn't help either.

Alex wanted to say something, articulate the unspoken truth but instead the words she had expected from Kara. The words that she sort of expected from Kate or Lena, and the words she tried to form herself, they came from Clark.

"You've been playing double agent with Cadmus." he said, more than asked. "It's brave but foolish. They could have found you out."

"Lex wanted me to join Cadmus form the start, Superman. He sent me his journals to sway me. He sent me files on you and all your friends. Burned and nothing but ashes now." Lena replied.

"And the journals made their way to me." Clark replied sullenly, his looks towards Lena had softened, no longer seeing her as simply a replacement for Lex.

Kara nodded along, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor before storming off, having had enough of it all. Immediately Clark, Winn, James, and even Alex wanted to follow after her.

In the end Maggie had reached out to grab Alex's hand and keep her in place. Instead, Alex watched as Lena pull herself out of Winn's chair and run after her sister.

And Alex figured Maggie was right, that Kara didn't need Alex right that second, or Clark or any of their friends. She needed Lena, she needed to understand why.

They needed to talk.

* * *

To say she was overwhelmed was the understatement of the century.

Lately, Kara had been having a hard time to just keep up with what life had to throw her way. Some days she's learned to simply let go and enjoy the ride.

This was not one of those days.

She was back in her training room, channeling her anger by pulverizing the block of concrete right in front of her. She would have gone to her warehouse, somehow destroying old cars sounded very appealing to her, but she didn't want to leave in case she would be needed.

In case something happened.

She still couldn't leave.

She couldn't find it in herself to do so.

But it was too much. She wanted to scream, and yell, and let her frustrations go.

And she did just that when the block of concrete finally turned into dust. Kara unleashed a bit of her heat vision at yet another block waiting for her as she screamed but soon restrained herself not wanting to solar flare.

It hurt.

That was all she knew.

It stung, it ached, and it hurt in her chest and she wished she could soothe the pain away but she couldn't.

Project 13 was a clone of her cousin, Project 14 was _her_ clone.

Cadmus wanted her, her DNA, to make an army of her clones.

And God knows what they'd do to Lena to keep making those clones. They needed a human template, something that would be compatible twith her DNA.

Then of course, there was the whole thing with Lena herself. She was with Cadmus.

She  _infiltrated_ Cadmus. She'd seen Conner, she'd seen their labs.

She's been playing a very dangerous game.

 _Rao!_ Kara thought to herself, not even able to articulate everything running through her mind in her native tongue. English wasn't enough to say everything either.

_Because why is it that everyone I love just had to have the same hobby of putting their lives in danger?!_

That was when Kara realized that she was also slightly panicking at the moment. Everyone she's ever known and loved are either dead or have left her in some way. There was Jeremiah who protected her secret by joining the DEO, and now he's in the clutches of Cadmus. There was Kelly, one of her friends at Catco who fell victim to the effects of Myriad and who she had failed to save thanks to Non forcing her into an impossible situation. There was her aunt Astra, her mother and father, her Aunt Lara and Uncle Jor-El, all gone thanks to the complicated mess she left behind on Krypton, the same mess that chased her to her new home. Then there was Kal who constantly puts his life in danger and has faced near-death experiences a few times over. There's James and Winn with their Guardian stint, mostly James really, that she managed to come around to only because in the end Alex managed to talk her down and promised to help train him.

Then there's Alex being a secret agent…

And now Lena, Lena who keeps on throwing herself in harm's way with all of this double agent nonsense.

Kara was huffing as she pulverized a third block. That was when she heard Lena's voice, so soft and weak, calling after her. "Kara."

Kara stopped herself from picking a fourth as Lena walked towards her. She looked quite torn, her eyes pleading for silent apologies.

"You were there at the base during the Blight invasion, weren't you? That's why I couldn't reach you. You were both safe and in danger during the invasion from multiple forces, Lena what were you thinking?!" she exclaimed as she started pacing back and forth. She couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I didn't know that's where we were heading." Lena provided as an excuse.

"How long?" Kara then asked, through gritted teeth before abruptly halting in front of Lena who was still a few steps away from her. "How long have you been doing all… all _this_?"

"After they… after they took you…" Lena replied sounding unsure how to go about things and Kara huffed. "Kara, please, listen to me. I know you're upset…"

"Gee, what's your first clue?" Kara snapped back.

"I wanted to tell you." Lena replied calmly. "But I was afraid. Okay? Kara, I was scared and terrified. Not everyone's brave like you, not everyone's lived in the light like you. I was scared of what they could have done to you, of what they planned to do. Kate asked for my help for the prints on the base of operations they kept you in since it was under one of my subsidiary companies. It wasn't hard to piece things together after that."

"And you went to play your dangerous game? Lena, did you even consider for a second…"

"That it was dangerous, yes, but Kara…" Lena tried to interject, but Kara was on a roll.

"…that maybe that was the most idiotic thing you could have done…"

"I had to do it." Lena tried to interject again, but she couldn't interject again.

"…or I don't know, you could have told me. Maybe I could've talked some sense to you. We would've figured this all out differently…"

"Like figure out Thunder Corp. funding Cadmus or getting the last missing pieces of the puzzle? Kara…" Lena said yet again, but her words barely reached Kara as she frantically went on and on.

"…and maybe, I don't know, maybe we could've just taken out Cadmus all at once, go about it a different way…"

"Kara, you're not listening."

"…maybe we could've sent Lex to the Phantom Zone, I don't know? Taken your mother along with him…."

"It wouldn't have stopped Westfield!"

"…or maybe had someone else infiltrate Cadmus…"

"It had to be me, Kara."

"…and used and experimented on…" she added, sounding a bit disgusted at the thought of Cadmus trying to use Lena for nefarious purposes against her will.

"They would've taken me one way or another, playing the willing accomplice was the best way to keep my autonomy."

"…but anything to use you as a pawn in the games… we could've taken you to something like a safe house, under witness protection…"

"And have my mother take over L-Corp and use it for evil? Kate tried that argument and we found a lot of flaws in that plan. I'm not a damsel in distress Kara, I can fight my own battles too."

Kara seemed to have registered those words. "But you can't fight this Lena. No. I know you're raised as a Luthor, and you have your set ways, but this can't continue. You have to let me in. I know it's so much easier for you to hide and lie and keep things like this, that's what you're used to. But you're…" she rambled on without thinking for a second what it was that she was saying. Her thoughts were all jumbled together, she wasn't making sense.

All Kara could think of was how she needed to protect Lena and stop her from putting her life at risk.

It was like a moment of madness descending upon her on top of all that was happening.

All she understood was that she needed to keep one piece of her life from entirely tearing itself apart. Because everything just felt like it was falling apart at the moment.

But Lena didn't let her finish her ramblings, no.

"What? Weak and pathetic against Cadmus' creations?" Lena retorted, her voice slightly raising, looking deeply hurt by what Kara had just said.

"You can't possibly…"

"Would you listen to me for one second, Kara?" Lena yelled, almost desperately too, that her words finally reached Kara.

Kara tried to say something in response but Lena beat her to the punch. "Say it Kara, I'm a puny human you need to protect, right?" she dared her but Kara remained silent. "I know keeping things from you was wrong, but _this_ is one of the reasons why I did. Because you'd feel like you have to protect me, and watch me. Kara, I know you're the Super, your powers pretty much has that covered in explaining to me what my position is compared to you. But have you considered that maybe, while you fight to protect this world with all your powers and abilities, that I could do something akin to that too? That fighting for the people you love is a two way street? You almost gave your life in protecting me from Deathstroke yourself, remember? Or have you forgotten? You protect me Kara, you save me, you're my hero, but maybe I can be your hero too? Maybe I can be more than _just another Luthor?_ Maybe I can actually use what I learned growing up for something good. Maybe there isn't exactly one way of fighting against injustices, for doing what's right. Maybe I can fight for you with my wits because clearly I'm physically incapable of standing up against the people you face. Have you considered that maybe I can save you too? That we can be each other's savior? That we can fight for ourselves and fight for each other? Because Kara, part of my reasons for wanting to take Cadmus down from the inside was for you, to protect you, and now to protect Conner and the version of us that Cadmus has, but it was also for me too. I needed to fight for myself, to escape the shadow my family has over me and stand on my own."

Kara clenched her jaws as she held herself back from talking and listened this time, her memories were back to that night where Cadmus had undoubtedly extracted samples from her and probed her memories. It's been a while, but suddenly reliving the memories she had of that night just pushed her more on edge. Remembering memories of all they had to endure since after that night evoking more and more emotions from her.

Her fears were trying to take over, nightmarish scenarios of Cadmus having Lena and doing the worst kept flashing in her head. Thoughts of what ifs that never happened where Cadmus could have done away with Lena, harm her even…

But Lena had a point and she did deserve to explain her side, so Kara fought back the anger and the hurt and the fears.

Kara nodded and Lena went on, taking Kara's silence as her cue to keep on talking. "Kate tried to stop me, but whether or not she let me work with her, I would've done it anyway. I want you to understand Kara, I _need_ you to understand, I would've done this even without you in my life. Before moving to National City, Lex sent me the journals and the files. He knew who Kate was, who Batman was, who Clark was. He suspected you to be Supergirl but he had no absolute proof of it, then again, there were a few other people he had suspected too."

"That's why you knew…" Kara replied, her words laced with hurt and heartbreak as she realized what Lena was saying, what it meant. "Lena, when I told you, why didn't you… why didn't you tell me this?" she asked.

"I wanted to, Kara. Besides, your secret, it had nothing to do with this. I knew you were Supergirl not because of Lex's notes and suspicions. I told you before, do you remember?" Lena asked, her voice weak and almost breathless. She was trying to desperately remind Kara that what they had, it was a separate thing from this mess.

But it was nevertheless entwined with it.

"It was your eyes, that little scar you told me you got from Krypton… it was in your ways, your smile, your warmth… I didn't tell you I know because it was your decision to trust me with your secret or not and I wasn't going to impose on having you tell me when you're not ready or if you don't want to. It's not about trust Kara. I knew you would've wanted to tell me, what with our growing relationship, but you were scared it would put me in danger. And I've been trying to find ways to tell you my secret too, but then I found out about Project 14 and I didn't even know how to approach the subject with you either. I knew, I… I knew you wouldn't agree to what I was doing…"

"You mean try to stop you from putting your life at risk? Lena, what part of 'I can't lose you' isn't clear?"

"It's clear, very much Kara. And it's no excuse, I know, but I was scared of losing you too. At the start, I was scared you'd think I'm just another Luthor… which turns out I am…" Lena went on, great distaste in her voice as she admitted it out loud to herself. She was shaking, shivering, as everything finally took a toll on her. Her words were clear, sincere, but it didn't change the fact that Lena had lied to her.

Well, not exactly lied as much as omitted a rather important piece of truth.

Lena kept on going. "I never… I didn't… us Kara…" Lena then said as she searched for the words, a glassy look in her eyes as she tried to fight back the tears. "I never thought that it could be real, Kara, that it would be more than just a dream… I didn't see us… you were the sun and I couldn't fly too close because I knew I'd fall, keep falling endlessly… I didn't want to lose you as a friend, and when we got together, I didn't want to lose _you_. I know I was wrong for keeping it a secret. And I wanted to tell you before it blew all up in our faces, but my fear crippled me, Kara. Maybe you don't get to feel that, but I do."

"You're wrong Lena, I _do_ feel that." Kara immediately said, cutting in. "You think I'm not scared of losing you? I'm mad, Lena, very much so that you didn't tell me. But, hey, you've just joined the club really since apparently everyone thinks I'm incredibly fragile about dark and big bad things. I'm mad about the secret, but it's the dangerous game you've decided to play I'm mostly mad about."

"I know Kara, but like I said, I had to do it. For you, and mostly for me."

"I know, I hear you, but I don't want you to take the risk, okay? I can't, I just can't… I don't know how to handle our clone or Kal's, but I know that if a part of them were from who we are… if our clone had a part of you, I know for sure that they had to be good. That we need to save them and we could handle what comes next. But you putting your life in danger? Working alongside the worst of the worst? Lex, your mom, Westfield – I don't know him personally but he sounds like a terrible guy. If they had found you out, have you even considered what would have happened to you? They'd hurt you. Killing you would be a mercy." Kara then replied.

And _Rao_ , the thought that they would hurt her, torture her, possibly turn her into one of their little pet projects resurfacing in her mind… Kara swears if that happened then Cadmus would be nothing but dust. She knew it would be her breaking point. Oh she knew most definitely knew, just as much as how it would be Kal's breaking point if something happened to Lois.

Because she can't lose anyone else

She _can't_ lose Lena.

"You need to stop." Kara then said with a sense of finality. "You're stopping whatever game you're doing. If they call, they won't reach."

"I can't do that Kara. That would point to me being a spy."

"I don't care Lena, with Lex free, I can't let you do this!" Kara responded rather angrily, desperately.

Because she doesn't like that Lena lied.

And she doesn't like that she would willingly keep playing this game of hers.

This is why Kara always hated chess. It taught you to sacrifice certain pieces to beat your enemy, corner the king, succeed with a checkmate.

And Lena, she knew, was good at the game.

Kara didn't want her to consider herself an easy piece to be sacrificed, no, whatever piece she may be.

"Kara, I understand your concern. Again, if I could turn back the time, I would have told you sooner, be braver and be honest. But I wouldn't have stopped Kara. I can't stop now. We need to end Cadmus, and I have a part to play in this. Westfield didn't trust anyone with Conner other than himself and Dubbilex. I'm the only other person who can figure out where _she_ is. The only other one Lex or Westfield would give access to. It's dangerous, it's risky, but we need to save _her_. The way they're being extra careful, even if they're in the same base, I doubt that they'd keep her in the same room as Conner. We can't let them use her and turn her into something like Kryptonite Man."

"No, Lena. We'll figure out a way... but... but just.. You have to stop this!" Kara desperately replied, her thoughts on a single idea. Keep Lena safe.

"Darling, I can't. What we have…  who we are as people... it demands sacrifices, demands putting someone else's needs above your own, and more than that, Kara. If I stop, if I run and hide, that wouldn't be me, that wouldn't be you. That would be selfish, and _this_ right here can't be selfish." Lena replied and Kara couldn't help but think that she's talking about that one little word she still had difficulty in saying. "If I don't come when they call, they're going to hurt other people." Lena replied, carefully walking towards her and gently placing her hands on the crest of the House of El.

"And that goes against every reason you have of wearing this proudly on your chest." she went on. Kara drew in a sharp breath, she could feel herself crumbling, her anger passing. Lena was talking some sense into her and while she's still upset, she knew that as Supergirl, Lena was right and that she would have to let Lena do what she must. "Kara, darling, beyond us, we need to stop Cadmus from attaining their goals. I know, my view of the world is all skewed thanks to my family, but you've been showing me things. You've been showing me that I can't be selfish, that I cannot stop caring. You've been showing me that the differences we all have that makes me scared of things I don't know  or understand, that breeds fear and hate, it's nothing compared to the similarities that keeps us all alive." Lena added, reasoning with her.

And it could have worked.

If Kara was only Supergirl.

But she was also Kara Danvers.

She was, as a whole, Kara Zor-El.

And the fear was gripping Kara wholly. Completely.

She's never felt this way for anyone, no.

She's never loved liked this.

Given her heart, her love like this.

And the fear was using that quite well against her. Holding her senses hostage, her emotions taking over the logic in her mind.

Because even the smartest and most brilliant of minds can't defeat the undefinable.

Because love was simply something that logic could contain or define, and yet it holds all meaning.

And fear knew that nothing was quite comparable to the loss of such love.

For Kara Zor-El who's lost it all, who keeps on losing what she temporarily gains, the fear of losing Lena was quite effective.

She couldn't.

She can't.

"I can't do this, Lena. I can't. I just… I'm tired of losing it all. I can't." she replied as she took a step back and zoomed out of the room, taking off from the balcony, and flying into the clouds.

She needed time to think.

* * *

"Please tell me you're not actually planning on just letting her go." Alex said as she marched into the training room she and Kate had been using. Kate was presently sprawled on the mat, pretty much exhausted with having yet another argument with Lena. She sounded upset, she probably was, but she kept her eyes on the ceiling for some reason, lost in her thought.

But Lena had a point. As much as she hated to admit it.

She wasn't necessarily right, but she had a point.

Besides, her heart was breaking and she wanted to be alone. As much as Kate didn't want to let her be alone, she knew when Lena needed time to breathe and be by herself.

So she had let her go when she stormed off, stubbornly deciding that going back to her penthouse was better that staying in the DEO now that she's had time to think.

"Kate, it's not safe! Lex…" Alex started to argue.

"Shouldn't know that Lena is working with us, therefore, Lena doesn't have anything to fear." Kate replied rather monotonously, remembering Lena's own words. She pulled herself up and sat down the mat as she heaved a heavy sigh before turning her attention to Alex fully.

Alex looked like she wanted to argue her point some more but Kate cut her short even before starting to speak. "I think differently from you Alex, Lena differently from us. Trying to figure out how Lex or Lena thinks will only drive you mad. Trust me I've tried." Kate started to say sounding rather exasperated. Because yes, she did try and it always gives her headaches. Alex huffed and walked towards her, slumping down the mat next to Kate. "They need time to breathe and think. Besides, Lex is less openly attack and more mentally break you through his games. I want Lena to stop, like Kara, but I can't make her do something she doesn't want to just like you can't stop Kara every time she puts everyone else's lives above her own."

"Kara's really upset." Alex then noted.

"And Lena's really heart broken." Kate pointed out. "But she was kind of already expecting that, that's why she's stubbornly marching on. She wants to do this. To end this."

"But at the price of breaking my sister's heart?" Alex argued.

"I don't have all the answers Alex." Kate then replied. "Just that whatever we decide would inevitably have consequences. Lena was wrong to keep this a secret, doesn't mean I don't understand why she did. You worked for the DEO to protect Kara, James became Guardian for his own reasons. Sure, your secrets were different, especially since Lena's putting her life at risk with Cadmus and she's not exactly a trained operative, but someone had to. She's a fan of myths and legends, and the lessons history teaches us. She's the Trojan horse and we've sped up investigations with her help. I have to say, Kara's had an effect on her too. She's willing to risk it all not just to beat her family, to beat Lex, but she's starting to see things differently now."

Alex sighed. "I put a surveillance team, by the way, to keep her safe. I know you're dying to make sure she's safe. Besides, Kara would go haywire if she finds out. M'gann's with them too."

Kate chuckled. "Thanks, Alex."

"I should be the one thanking you for the videos."

"Have you watched them?" Kate asked.

"No, I haven't." Alex admitted. "Did you?"

"I saw one clip, that's all. The last one." Kate then replied. "It would seem your dad was trying to be a Trojan horse on his own, except they kept an eye on him. He seemed to be quite vocal with his disagreements. I admire him, his definitely a hero in his own right."

"Thanks for saying that." Alex then replied with a shaky breath. "I might watch it when things calm down with Kara, hopefully soon." she added just before Kate's phone started ringing.

Her 'work' phone.

"Something up?" Alex had asked.

"Could be." Kate replied looking at Dick Grayson's name flashing on her screen. Alex nodded before standing up and walking towards the door to give Kate some privacy.

"I'll check and make sure things are still holding up. The silence is keeping us all antsy. I'll keep you posted." Alex then said before completely leaving.

Kate took a deep breath and slowly released it to calm and steady her nerves before answering the call. There were a lot of other things going on in her mind, mostly personal, but now was not the time for that.

She had to answer to the higher calling of being Batwoman.

* * *

Kara had spent a good few hours between keeping watch over her city for any signs of trouble and trying to clear her head.

She loved being Supergirl. It was her calling, she knew.

But it was times liked this that she wished she wasn't Supergirl.

That she just an ordinary being happily living her life with the one she loved, with Lena.

Nope, not in the mess that she was stuck in. Not in the middle of a plot between Lena's brother and her cousin, their rivalry and fight, their goals and vengeance.

She wished it were all simple.

Kara's thoughts eventually went to her Earth-1 counterpart, how Ray kept on bringing up about his cousin who reminded him of her, and of her fiancée-slash-possibly-already-her-wife. She kept thinking of the different versions of her around the multiverse, of Lena…

…and she couldn't help but wonder if any of them lived the same life they were living.

It's been one of the longest days of her life, she hadn't even realize the sun had set. Kara could feel her tears trailing down her cheeks as she got lost in the clouds, watching the twinkling of the stars. She looked up, in the solace of nothing but the night she let herself cry out.

She's tired, very tired.

She didn't want to lose Lena, not after all the things they've been through, not after all the loss she's suffered.

She couldn't let her go on with this mission.

Kara wanted to be selfish for once in her life. She just wanted to hold onto one thing near and dear to her and never let it go, but she knew it would be wrong. The world wasn't dead set in black and white, it's filled with multitudes of colors, some more vibrant, lively, and beautiful than anyone can ever imagine. They all had parts to play in the grand scheme of things, in painting this world, in breathing life to it.

And Lena was right. Kara had to admit, she hadn't expected Lena to say words that sounded like it should've come from her.

They had to stop Cadmus, they had to save Conner and their clone. They had to stop them from unleashing chaos and dividing an already divided world that had just endured one of the worst attacks in history.

They had to be the beacon of hope in a world that constantly found itself caught up in the cycle of hatred.

And yes, she was hurt and mad about Lena keeping her double agent stint a secret. But that she could let go and forgive. Anger subsides, wounds heal…

But the possibility of losing Lena as they move forward in this fight… it was tearing her on the inside…

It was what hurt the most.

Because for once in her life, Kara had found something she could never find herself losing.

For some reason Kara soon found herself heading towards Catco, landing on the balcony of one Cat Grant with a pensive look on her face.

Cat noticed her almost immediately, standing up from her seat on the balcony, drink in hand, as she walked towards Supergirl. She didn't speak up or say anything for a good while. Instead, Cat had let herself be content with simply studying Supergirl's face as she let the quiet sobs in her chest still and calm herself down.

"Been quite a busy day, Supergirl?" Cat asked, leaning on the railings of her balcony. Her tone was her usual light one when speaking with her, not giving away anything that's going on in her mind. "News broke about your cousin's nemesis earlier. If the newsroom was busy, I could only imagine how your day has been going. People say they even spotted Superman earlier this day landing on a different Luthor's balcony." she continued to speak, however, it surprised Kara when she didn't ask about Superman's business. Instead Cat had asked about her. "Are you okay?"

Kara started to open her mouth but found that she couldn't tell Cat anything. How could she? She can't drag Cat Grant into the whole Cadmus mess as well. Sure, Cat was her mentor, in more ways than one too. But she can't just put her life at risk just because she felt a turmoil going inside of her.

"How about we drop the act, just for tonight? You know, the act that I believed that little trick you pulled off last year and pretend I don't know who you are and you pretend that you can actually fool me?"

Kara looked at her astounded but was simply met by Cat's unimpressed gaze. "Just for tonight though. You seem like you have a greater burden than the weight of the world on your shoulders. So go ahead, tell me what's wrong? Are you torn between the love of your life and your alien cousin?"

"No… not exactly… that's part of it…" Kara found herself admitting. Her throat felt dry, and her voice sounded a little coarse but she shrugged it off to her endless sulking around the city.

"Then what else could it be?" Cat then asked. "I tried my best intimidation techniques on her, and that didn't scare her away. I highly doubt her brother resurfacing would drive a wedge against the two of you or scare her away."

"It's not scaring her away at all is the problem. She was shocked and shaken initially but she's dead set on stopping him."

"Oh? How?" Cat the asked. "Pardon my curiosity. It's almost second nature."

"It doesn't matter." Kara replied. "I just… how could she…?" she found herself asking, tears starting to well up in her eyes once more. "I just found out she's putting her life at risk to stop whatever was left of Lex's work and she's intending to continue her fight. That she's intending to… to continue to risk… does she even care that I care?" she asked, the words spilling out of her mouth uncontrollably now. "That I don't want her to do it because I don't want her to risk it, I don't want… I can't lose her that way… I want to protect her and keep her safe…"

"That's mighty brave of her…" Cat then commented, "…and selfish of you not to acknowledge that."

Kara found herself surprised at Cat's words but nevertheless listened. "I know you must be overwhelmed, you might be Supergirl, but you're not a machine. You have a life too. But I highly doubt that Lena doesn't care and that you do. I think she knows that. Think about it, she undoubtedly feels the same way you do every time you put that 'S' on your chest and don that red cape. I watched you fall from the skies to your possible death, I don't doubt she saw that too. You are our symbol of hope, Supergirl, so don't forget that you inspire us, _all_ of us to be brave and face uncertainty. To do what we must. You've inspired her to break free from her family, to stop her brother and do the right thing. Because of you, more than just breaking free from them,she understands what she has to do for the good of all. She knows that this is for the two of you, and even more than that but that it's greater than the two of you. You need to respect that even if it's hard."

"But she lied to me. Kept it a secret…"

"Which was wrong of her." Cat then replied. "But if you were doing something you know that she wouldn't approve of, what would you do? If you know you might lose her if you tell her? You'd put it off for the last minute. Sometimes the truth is the hardest thing to say and it requires tremendous amount of courage to tell it. What's more is admitting the truth and admitting you were wrong for keeping it. Maybe I don't understand the full circumstance of what you're going through, but you love her and she loves you. The youngest Luthor's used to being left behind, used to being unloved, used to not having anything to lose. Now she has you. I think she's just as scared, it's practically human nature. I know you still have a lot to talk through, but flying around the city aimlessly and avoiding the subject won't achieve much."

Kara found herself speechless as Cat's words struck her, enough to take her away from the glum spell that hung around her.

Because sometimes things can engulf all our senses and the important things get buried beneath the negative feelings that so easily formed. Sometimes, we're caught blindsided by it all, especially when things were all so seemingly perfect one second and completely falling apart the next.

She woke up with a promise of a lazy early morning before work with Lena, only to find herself arguing with Kal about their relationship, the news of Lex's escape upon them, the fact that she and Kal had clone projects from Cadmus, and that Lena had been trying to topple them over from the inside.

Yeah, Kara could only take so much and she found herself drowning

"Is this your way of telling me to go talk to her after I've cooled down?" Kara then found herself asking, feeling like some weight had been lifted on her shoulders. Cat had always given sage advice, and now was not an exemption to that.

"I'm saying you need to remind her that she's not alone in this fight." Cat replied.

Kara groaned, resting her head in her hands. "Oh Rao, I called her an idiot for doing all of this!?"

"Everything can be fixed." Cat then said with a smile. "I'd start with flowers if it's really that bad."

Kara smiled lightly and nodded, her feet lifting off of the balcony as she hovered in her flight. "Thank you, Ms. Grant." she said before taking to the skies again.

Because Cat was right.

They had to work through this, they had to get through this. Kara had her fears, but Lena had her own.

And whatever the storm they had to face, they still had each other.

Kara fumbled for her phone from her boot and tried to ring up Lena to check on her but she wasn't answering her phone. After a few more tries she found herself calling Alex.

"What do you mean she went home?!" Kara all but exclaimed, hopeful that her booming voice had not been loud enough for the entire city to hear.

"Relax Kara, I have a surveillance team on her along with M'gann and they're updating me by the second. How are you?"

"Better." Kara then replied. "You knew, didn't you? J'onn too?"

"About Conner, J'onn did for a while. About Lena and the rest, we got looped in just a few days ago. We wanted Lena to be the one to tell you, and she wanted to, Kara. But I suppose she's struggling with it too. Nothing's been easy in this fight against Cadmus."

"I know." Kara replied.

"She looked upset and heartbroken when she left, but stubborn with marching on." Alex then added. "But I think she thought she's lost you with this."

"She hasn't Alex. She'll never lose me." Kara defiantly replied. "If I'm being honest, I'm scared I lost her or that I'll lose her."

"Don't let the fear of losing her get to you. It's worse than actually losing her now. We both don't know how long we have for this world with our lives going the way they are. She needed space that's why we let her go. Just like she let you leave too. But you need to show her, no matter how many times she sees you go, you'll always come back to her. That is, if you're serious about fighting for your relationship."

Kara sighed. "I know Alex." she replied just as a though occurred to her. "I might need your help on something. Kate's too, possibly."

"She's a little busy with an emergency meeting with the League. Apparently Intergang's hitting up Gotham. But I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Alex." Kara replied as she flew into the night, this time with a purpose of making things right.

* * *

She's gone and done it, she was sure. She had gone and ruined the best thing that's ever happened to her because she was too much of a damned coward to tell her the truth. Tell Kara that she was working with Cadmus in the attempts to take them down.

The warm water was starting too cool on her skin when Lena once again opened her eyes. She's been under the shower for a good half hour, trying to relax, regroup, and formulate a plan. It hurt that she's caused Kara so much pain, but she wasn't changing her decision on continuing the farce. They were so close to taking them down.

It doesn't mean her heart wasn't breaking as she watched Kara leave, her last words echoing in her thoughts.

She couldn't anymore, she can't...

Lena knew that something had to give, it just had to, that was the way it always was. But she couldn't keep Kara to herself, she couldn't give up the right thing to do, the right thing she had to do for herself. It wouldn't be fair to Kara, to herself, to the world for crying out loud.

Lena never really cared much before. But her desires to be better than her family, to do right... but Kara's influence on her throughout their relationship, her enthusiasm and her heart of a hero… how could Lena do that?

How could she not care?

Especially about Kara, about Conner, and about the clone given life based on her and Kara's genetic makeup.

She was prepared for this, she was ready for the fall. She just wished she could have still fought harder because she does know she failed Kara for not telling her the truth sooner.

Lena found herself on autopilot as she stepped out of the shower and got dressed in her most comfortable piece of clothing, all of which happened to be one of Kara's sweatshirts she once left behind and a pair of jogging pants. Lena has worn it quite a few times already and washed it a good number of times too but it still smelled of Kara.

Her Kara who was probably regretting ever considering Lena to be someone worth standing by her side.

She made her way to the living room in the hopes of getting tired enough to doze off, perhaps put a good movie on, have a glass of wine or two. She wanted to take her thoughts away from Kara and tune out what the world had to say about her and her family. She wanted to focus on what was to come. Because she couldn't lose, she can't. Not to Lex.

Not when there was so much still at stake.

Instead, however, Lena found herself surprised by finding a vase filled with 15 long stemmed yellow roses on her coffee table. Something that wasn't there before. She only needed to look towards her balcony to find who left them there.

Kara, still in her suit, was standing outside looking rather uncertain and a bit nervous as she balled her hands together and looked up. Her gaze was so much softer than it had been earlier when she was at the height of her anger. "Kara…" Lena found herself mumbling as she walked towards the balcony and opened the door.

She knew she would've heard her for sure but Kara didn't say anything to greet her or otherwise. Instead she simply held her hand out to Lena as she took in a shaky breath.

Lena walked closer and accepted her hand. Kara brought her closer, resting her hands on her waist before they took off into the sky. Lena pulled herself closer with their slow ascension as Supergirl tried to wrap her cape around her to keep her warm, the chilly night breeze sending chills down her spine. With that and Kara's own warmth, Lena stopped shivering as they took off into the night.

She pressed her head down Kara's chest, reveling in the sensation of once again being in her arms, especially after she had stormed off earlier.

She had gone and came back to her. That was all Lena could really think of for the moment.

And truthfully, that was enough for Lena to tear up a little, but she fought back her emotions to keep her cool. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise." Kara replied.

It took them a few good minutes of simply flying around outside of the city before Lena saw a peak of a great lush of colors beneath them. Kara landed softly with a thud on the grass, gently releasing Lena from her grasps, the two of them standing outside of what looked to be the gates of a greenhouse garden. Kara gathered a few of the white, pink, blue, purple and red orchids growing around the arch of a wooden gate that greeted them once they stepped inside and handed it to Lena before reaching out to hold her hand once again.

The place was beautiful. Like they were lost in a garden of spring despite it still being winter. They made their way through a section of roses and azaleas, of lilies and tulips, and past a section of plumerias, Lena's own favorite flowers. Kara had reached out for one and placed it over Lena's left ear before they continued on their path.

They walk passed a section of carnations, Lena stopping to admire the wonderful colors of the flowers that were in full bloom and gathering a few of the white and red variety to give to Kara in response to her orchids. She then found herself stopping to gather hyacinths and lavenders as they walked passed a few until finally they found themselves at the center of the garden.

There was a white bench in the middle of a circular section surrounded by violets and forget-me-nots and the rare and beautiful blue roses. The bench was surrounded by dozens upon dozens of bouquets of the same flowers as Kara left her side and picked one of the blue roses to hand to her.

Their fingers met as Lena took the rose from Kara who looked at her with all the love in the world. "It's times like this that remind me I don't deserve you." she said in a whisper, because the look in Kara's eyes meant that she was forgiven. And Lena didn't think she deserved to be forgiven.

Kara shook her head. "Really, there are days when I feel like I don't deserve you too. When I think I shouldn't have survived Krypton…"

"Don't say that." Lena immediately said, cutting her short, placing her finger on Kara's lips and letting it linger for a moment.

It was then when she finally took in her whole sight, the tear-stained cheeks that Kara didn't try to hide like Lena did by crying her heart out in the shower. They were both an emotional mess, without a doubt, and yet here they were.

Kara nodded. "I'm sorry." she finally said.

"No, you shouldn't." Lena replied. "I should be the one apologizing, Kara."

"I don't think it really matters. We both made mistakes and we can't change our decisions. It's wrong of you to hide the truth from me, but it's wrong of me to stop you or for me not to respect your decision to do what you must. I'm sorry for things I've said, things I clearly didn't think through, and I'll respect it if you need time to just be, but I kinda had to do this now because it's like we're waiting for a ticking time bomb to explode and I don't want to wait and regret not saying this or making things right." Kara then said, her voice cracking up as she spoke, tears threatening to spill yet again.

"I won't stop you anymore but we have to talk about this, talk things through with a concrete plan. We need to talk and be honest with each other." Kara continued, her voice soft and pleading. "We're a team, Lena. We make each other better, we make each other stronger. So you have to promise me, _please_ , promise me that we won't lie or hide anything to each other ever again. Because I'm promising you this now. We are in this _together_. It's not about being a Luthor or being a Super, we're neither of that when we're with each other. We're no humans or aliens, no superheroes or double agents."

Lena nodded, taking in all that Kara was saying as she looked up into those otherworldly blue eyes. She knew that she couldn't anymore, hold back the tears as she felt them run down her own cheeks. She felt Kara's hands brushing them away as she continued to speak. "I don't care if the world thinks we shouldn't work. Love transcends, it is above everything else, and in all worlds no being could seem to make any sense of it or rationalize it so why should we? We're just us, okay? Just Lena and Kara, and we are one. And no, Lena, I won't ever let you go or run just as well as I know that you won't ever give me up either."

Lena nodded, completely overwhelmed by Kara's words. Here she was, the love of her life, the one person who seemed to keep on staying by her side for once in her life, but Kara wasn't done.

"Lena, I can't lose you just as you can't lose me, so we have to fight together. I have no place to be but by your side, because damn it, I traveled lightyears and galaxies, I got trapped in the Phantom Zone and lost in space just so I can find you and be here with you right now. You and I are a 'we', an 'us', two parts of a whole. And know that I respect your own strength just as you respect mine."

Lena kept nodding just as tears started spilling down Kara's cheeks as well, she pulled her closer and silenced her words with a kiss.

"I'm sorry Kara, you're right. I'm so sorry. This fight is _ours_ not mine, not just yours." Lena whispered against her lips before Kara pulled her in for another kiss.

When she pulled away once again, she rested her head against Kara's chest, her girlfriend's heartbeat calming her.

Lena knew, they were in the tempest, they were metal melting in heat of the furnace before being beaten over and over again, the malleable material being shaped and reshaped. They were glass that was being tempered and crafted into a work of art. They were clay and porcelain being molded, being broken and glued together with gold to mark the cracks. They weren't perfect, they were being tested. They were frail and fragile but strong and it was their imperfections that made them more beautiful than ever. They were diamonds in the skies, stars burning brightly.

They made mistakes, they surely would make more.

They were up against the worst, and the battles would surely keep coming.

But for however short or long their forever would be, they would be there for each other, be each other's strength. They would bend against the will of the storm. Yes, Lena knew that now.

"You really are my sun, Kara. I was so afraid I'd lose you. I'm sorry. I'm not going to let that fear get the best of me again. You brought me to the light and I keep running back to the dark."

Kara pressed a kiss down her head, pulling her closer as she wrapped her strong arms around her. "I hope you know that you're my moon then." she replied. "And my stars, and the silence above the craziness of this world, my calm, my peace, and the graceful beauty of this world. I'm sorry I was losing it earlier instead of talking things through. I'm sorry I left all of a sudden. But you're my serenity, Lena, and the fear of having to live without you shook me down to my core."

Lena nodded, and pulled Kara closer too, wrapping her arms around her. "Just don't ever leave me. Be patient with me. Sometimes I'll forget that I've got you. I don't think I can make it without you, not with the way I keep falling for you."

"Lena, I thought I already told you, I'll be here to catch you every time. Always." Kara then replied.

Lena took a deep breath and closed her eyes, soaking in the feeling of what it was to be loved.

And though the storm raged on, they found peace in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think I just poured everything in this chapter… I'm emotionally spent but I've found a certain kind of catharsis in the process… hope you enjoyed that! Also, sorry about the exposition dump… some of the plot points were adapted versions of things in the comics, so I may have had some fun in taking inspiration from here or there…
> 
> Anyways, I had the idea with the flower scene even before Lena's own gayness took over and filled Kara's office with flowers… But hey, at least there's a compliment to that in this fic ;) Always loved the language of flowers so I wanted to incorporate them here.
> 
> Blue Roses: it's a symbol of love and of the impossible/unattainable/longing to attain the unattainable because of its rarity – you need to grow genetically modified roses to obtain it; it's also a symbol of immortality; some people say that the holder of a blue rose will have their wishes come true; in my head, Kara giving Lena a blue rose means that she was giving her the unattainable/impossible and rare kind of love that we're all looking for, a love that's immortal and would last forever; since the rose has to be genetically modified and Kara's biochemistry was altered by Zor-El and Lena's genes were mutated by Lex's experiments, plus Project 14 is scientifically created by Cadmus from them, it kind of adds a special meaning to it, like it's a perfect symbol of the two… so yeah :D
> 
> Forget-me-nots: true and undying love; fidelity and loyalty
> 
> Violets: blue = love and faithfulness, white = purity and chastity; bisexuals and lesbians are also known to give violets to women they are wooing all thanks to Sappho; in a poem, Sappho and her lover were depicted wearing garlands of violets ;3
> 
> Plumerias: new beginnings/life, charm, grace, and beauty – I mean, come on, the flower will forever be associated with Supercorp now! – and wearing it over the left ear meant that the person is taken/in a relationship
> 
> Hyacinth: blue = sincerity, purple = apology/asking for forgiveness; hence why Lena picks them up to give to Kara
> 
> Lavanders: devotion, grace, and elegance; a response to all the flowers that Kara's been picking for her
> 
> Orchids (one of my faves other than blue roses): overall = love, charm, beauty, refinement, and luxury; pink = grace, joy, and happiness, white = reverence, humility, admiration, and grace, purple = admiration and respect, blue = rarity, red = strength, courage, passion, and desire; everything Lena is to Kara
> 
> Carnations: white = pure love, red = deep love and admiration; Lena's response to the orchids too
> 
> 15 Yellow Roses in Lena's apartment: again, apology/asking for forgiveness
> 
> UPNEXT: Lex issues a threat/challenge! Cadmus makes another move! And a very emotional Danvers sisters scene followed by an even more emotional Sanvers scene! Plus maybe Kara and Alex at the precipice of what makes them both as heroes?


	25. Prelude to an End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which when it rains, it pours...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. While a lot happens in this chapter, it wasn't supposed to be this long. I ended up moving an important Sanvers scene on the next chapter because it's already a lot to process. Anyways, here is chapter 25 (we have like 5 chapters more to go before the end of the fic, I may or may not be freaking out about it!?) featuring a cute Lena and Clark becoming friends moment, the beginning of the last battle with Cadmus, and (grab your tissue boxes) the moment halfway through this fic that… well… it gets really emotional… don't hate me… hate Cadmus, they're evil…
> 
> …also, cliffhanger of sorts…
> 
> …I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.

It's been three days. Three nerve-wracking days.

With Lex having escaped three days ago only to be followed by three days of nothing but silence, people were on edge. They were expecting the worst of the worst.

The following day would be New Year's Eve. What perfect way to send out your message of reclaiming the earth for human beings, for achieving Cadmus' own goals than by unleashing whatever it was that you have planned on that day? The dawn of a new beginning.

They had to be careful. Kara and Alex managed to figure out a way to sneak Lena into the DEO in case they were being watched. Lena knew that she could easily come up with a good excuse if anyone noted Supergirl's rather overprotective measure as soon as she heard of Lex's escape. She knew she could always say that it was all part of the plan, a way to convince Supergirl that she was worried of her brother and Lena played along before justifying the need to ease up a bit. She did, after all, have a part to play.

But right now, it really was like a rush to the finish line with everyone now working together in bringing Cadmus down. And it's true, Lena had a part to play.

However, her part is rather complex and the only way she could clear her head with all the stress her little double agent gig had been causing her was to get her hands working on a constructive solution to some of the problems they faced.

And what problems could those be?

For one thing, Lena brought up that pulling out Conner and likewise, her and Kara's clone, too soon and fast could be detrimental to them. It was a rescue mission in some sense. Everyone agreed, they were alive, they had life in them. It was the right thing to do to save them from Cadmus' clutches.

Superman had been kept busy, watching over his city as Intergang wreaked havoc and anti-alien sentiments were once again being reawakened. Even Kara was being kept running around to keep people calm. The camaraderie that had formed after the invasion and the full scale Cadmus attack that the city had endured right after was now being quickly forgotten.

In a way, Lex knew what he was doing.

Lena was working in her own corner of Alex's private lab. Helping the DEO had come in such a short notice, after all, but working in private was for the best. They couldn't risk Cadmus spies knowing what it was Lena was doing.

Which wasn't much really. She was mostly building a pod with the help of Winn to help Conner and Project 14 – they really need to give her an actual name – to help their transition when they awaken. All while helping out with the intel of course, something that J'onn and Alex had been utilizing quite well.

All that she's known about Cadmus and Lex's notes were now being shared as they should have been from the start.

Kara would wince from time to time, that is, whenever she was in the room when Lena discussed what she had found from Westfield and her mother. She didn't make it a secret that she didn't like the guy, or the fact that Lena had to work with him for the undercover work.

To be honest, Lena still found herself in minor disagreements with Kara on how to go about what they were planning to do with infiltrating Cadmus and all. But she's keeping her word, and she's listening to Lena's arguments.

All while Lena's keeping her own word. No more secrets.

She would tell Kara everything, find a way to let her know what she does even when they're apart.

Because it was the only way.

Lena _had_ to go back to Cadmus somehow. She needed to reach out to her mother or Westfield eventually if they don't reach out to her first.

Westfield said they needed her with Project 14. Lena wasn't quite sure how much truth is there left to that statement now that Lex had escaped, but even her brother wanted her by his side.

Kara hated the plan but they couldn't risk Lex or anyone at Cadmus setting Conner lose before they reach him, or for that matter working on Project 14 without her and turning her into the image of a perfect soldier in Lex's mind. She and Dubbilex had spoken about this. She trusted that Dubbilex would do what needed to be done to ensure that she won't experience such a fate.

She _trusted_ was the key thing here. She was fighting her instincts of cynicism and doubt to trust Dubbilex because he was the only one she could depend on inside Cadmus right now. And she had to, she just had to hold onto that belief that he would do as he said.

That he won't betray Lena, that everything he does is for the clones.

Especially now that the tracker was all but useless, the signal being cutoff and jammed. Kate was currently locked up in her little crime lab working with Oracle to figure out where the signal had disappeared. This after having to respond to Intergang inspired riots in Gotham and helping some of her superhero friends in keeping peace with their own anti-alien nonsense in their cities. Winn was doing the best he could too from their end. They had a good radius or so to figure out where in the expanse desert that they headed to was the secret base. It could be broken apart like in National City, it could be more compact. All in all, it made things harder.

This time they had no blueprints. This time they had no insider info.

Most of Lena's mornings were spent in the DEO, her afternoon back in L-Corp, before the evening once again was spent in the lab at the DEO. It wasn't so bad since Kara would check on her whenever she could. That is, whenever Snapper would let her off or whenever the city could get itself together for five minutes of peace. Lena knew she had to leave soon, most her meetings stacked one after the other thanks to her now hectic schedule, but today was different. She had to address concerns from international investors, make sure L-Corp is still staying afloat all while trying to ensure that it's beyond Lex's reach.

They already cut Cadmus' main cash flow with the dismantling of Thunder Corp. Lena can't risk L-Corp being Lex's main interest for funding.

She leaned back on her seat wishing Kara would be back before she leaves as she took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. Everything had just been happening too fast, all simultaneously so, that it's been taking a toll on them. All of them, not just Lena.

Not that Lena wasn't feeling a great deal of stress from it either, sometimes she thinks she's in the deeper necks of the flooding storm threatening to drown them.

Lena swung her chair around as she heard the door open, expecting Kara or at the very least Winn or Alex checking in on her. She was wrong, however, and while she did see the oh-so well-known color scheme of blue and red, and the well-known symbol that was the crest of the House of El, it wasn't Kara that she saw.

Instead it was Kal-El otherwise known as Superman.

Also known as her brother's once upon a time best friend, Clark Kent.

Lena stood up from her seat, not entirely sure how to great Superman. He was meeker this time, not like the arrogant and overprotective Kryptonian that rushed to her balcony just a few days ago. He softened in his ways around her.

Although really, Lena wasn't sure how to react to any of it all. Just because Superman was all truth, justice, and the American way doesn't mean he can't be cunning or sneaky. It doesn't mean he wasn't trying to lull her in a false sense of security.

But then again, that could just be Lena's cynical mind talking.

"I…" Clark, Superman – she really wasn't sure what to call him, but she supposed Superman better suited the walls of the DEO – started to say before trying to clear his throat. "I think I owe you an apology."

"You were worried about Kara. I'd say you were stupid if anger or brashness wasn't your first reaction." Lena found herself admitting with a nervous chuckle and Superman simply nodded.

"That's not to say that my actions weren't wrong." he replied. "I do respect you Ms. Luthor, Lena, if I may?" he asked and Lena simply gave him a nod. "And, I do think you deserve the chance and the benefit of the doubt to prove to the world that you are not your family and that you shouldn't carry their sins. But seeing you with Kara, especially after I nearly lost her, all the fears I had just came tumbling out. I admit, I tend to be overprotective of my family and she's the last one I have of a home I never got to see. She reminds me of what I could've had, you know? She's my last life line to the family I lost, and in some ways I can feel the warmth of my mother through her, the sagacity of my father and uncle. When I see her, I get to see Krypton and the true embodiment of what it means to be a Kryptonian, or even better really."

Lena smiled as she heard him speak of Kara with great admiration. "At least we can say we agree on one thing, Clark, if I may?" she replied, throwing back his original question. Superman gave a nod with his smile.

"Perhaps more. What you're doing isn't easy." he then said with a hint of sincerity in his tone. "It's not just physically tiring, it's also mentally and emotionally taxing. It can't be easy to fight against your family, to be torn like this. I admire your strength and resilience, if anything."

"Yes, well, Lillian wasn't really much of a mother and the Lex I knew died when I found out all the things he did, when I just… I couldn't reach him." Lena found herself replying, glancing away as she played with the chain of the bracelet she was wearing. "Besides, I already lost family before, I don't feel like losing them again this time."

"And this is where I say I owe you an apology once more." Clark - for Lena knew for sure that he was talking to her as Clark Kent this time, not the Kryptonian but the person who grew up in Smallville and became her brother's best friend – replied. "He was too far gone when you found out, when things started to come to light. You couldn't have done much. I'm sorry, Lena. I truly am. And I'm sorry for deflecting my anger about that whole thing on you. It's just, the part of me that I guess you can call human can't get past his betrayal. I forget that he did the same to you when he completely lost it, when he let his hatred and madness consume him. I'm just… I suppose there's a part of me that blames myself that I couldn't save him, a part that's hoping I still could, and a part that had long gone given up."

"Lex wasn't your responsibility." Lena then replied. "Dad was tough on him, Lillian worshiped him. He's a complex man. I used to believe that he had goodness in him but I suppose his reputation preceded him. The things people said he was, things he never did that they claim he's done... it took really did consume him. I guess a part of it had always been true. If anything, I'm sorry I wasn't able to see it earlier. I could've saved you the trouble he caused."

Clark shook his head as he walked closer to where Lena stood. He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder before smiling weakly at her. "You're not your brother Lena, I'm sorry I keep making that mistake. It's been pointed out to me by a few good people that you and Kara are not me and Lex. And I hope you know that Lex wasn't your responsibility either. I guess we all messed up. We all failed him in little ways but we can't blame ourselves for his actions, carry it like our cross. You were sent to boarding school, he was exiled by Lionel to Smallville, home of the weird. I still feel like I lost a brother in him. That I failed to save him."

"Well, Clark, I hope you don't beat yourself up too much about it. I've learned through him that some people are just bad."

Superman sighed, glancing away. "I thought that too. Honestly, I feel like I've let him down even more because I've come to embrace that." he went on to say, opening up on things Lena could tell he rarely talked about. The way his shoulders slumped, the deepness of his sighs, she could tell he cared for Lex, that her brother crushed him just as much as he did her when he descended into his madness.

"Every time I look at him, I hear about him, I get angry for all the things he's done. I'm torn between just being plain mad at the atrocities and mad to think that the person who I looked up to turned out the way he was." Clark went on. "For trying to kill me time and time and again... for hurting innocent people… It makes me wonder what could've been. Maybe if I were honest, if I trusted him… Maybe if I showed him that there _was_ someone who believed in him when he felt like no one was there by his side… I know you were there too, but I suppose the distance didn't help when the worst of his storms hit him. "

Lena nodded. She spent so much time going back and forth between not caring in the world about what Superman thought and partly blaming him for Lex without even knowing what he felt about it. She thought he simply hated Lex too.

But he cared.

He still cares.

And a part of Lena knew she still did too, despite everything that's happened, she wished there was still a way to break through to her brother.

She smiled a melancholic smile as she listened to Clark. "Would you believe it? There's an earth out there where we could be brothers, the best of friends, and we didn't fall apart. Where he was one of my greatest allies…" he said with a wistful look in his eyes before a hint of sadness once again took over. "Of course you would, I heard about the Earth-1 heroes from Kara. I've been to two or three others myself, mostly because of a crisis. But do you know there's also a world out there where he's the hero and I'm the monster he had to stop? It makes me want to believe he wasn't always bad, Lena, he just stopped choosing to be good, to try. He lost his way, he lost himself in his darkness.

"I think now that's what I want to believe in. Maybe that's why I'm still so hurt and mad about things, because I still want to try and save him but he makes it really hard for me to. I want you to know, even before things fell apart, when things were shaky between us, even when the situations were dire, Lex had always been very fond of you. The one time you were supposed to visit but Lionel cancelled the trip, he was so disappointed. He was so excited for the two of us to meet, he wouldn't stop bragging about you."

"Really? He doesn't hate me? I thought a part of him did." Lena commented in disbelief. Because if Lex cared for her, more than because he needed her, then why couldn't she drag him back from the abyss that took hold of him?

She briefly looked away, unwanted memories of the Luthor household flashing in her mind. Of how Lionel and Lillian were like to the both of them. Of how they've both changed over the years.

"I figured that's why he'd want me isolated or hurt, with no one to turn to but him so that I'd join him. I mean, that's why he kept sending the death threats, after all, it's not to actually kill me. I get that now. Lex is very good with taking calculated steps. He knew they wouldn't succeed in actually killing me with you and Supergirl around. Everything's just a game to him, casualties be damned. But I suppose, if I died, he doesn't really care as long as he could use me for what he needs." she added, hurt evident in her tone.

She and Lex were close, they got along well, but her brother never liked being compared to her in Lionel's eyes, as he often did. Because Lionel often reminded Lex of where he fell short.

And because Lena kept besting him when he least expected.

So yes, she understood whatever negative feelings could exist between them. But she had once thought that they were stronger than that. Lex was her best friend, the one who stood up for her and looked out for her. To lose him to something so dark and desperate, to lose him against himself and the darkness rooted deep within, it was the hardest thing that Lena had to endure.

Her brother died, the Lex she knew and admired.

And he was replaced by a monster.

Whether or not Clark was right remains to be seen, but she doesn't want to hope. Not when it came to Lex.

She's been burned far too many times to try.

"You were right when you said he was complicated." Clark then replied. "Sibling rivalry is natural, I suppose. He never liked losing. He was the same with me. But the point is, the good in Lex, I think it was skewed, corrupted, and I lost hope. Honestly, I'm jealous of Kara's steadfast belief that people in the end would do the right thing. That there's good in them buried really deep down inside. She can end up not liking someone but she still believes that granted a chance, they would do the right thing."

"Yeah, but your cousin's technically sunshine, so I think that's a given." Lena then said and Clark chuckled. She had to be honest, while it was a huge breath of relief for her that things were less tense with Superman, she did find it strange at how easy it was to simply fall into a comfortable conversation with him.

But perhaps it was their shared regret over Lex and love of Kara that were simply bringing them closer.

It only got easier as the two of them went on to talk about their feelings about growing up with the knowledge of being adopted, even though Lena was actually a Luthor in the end. They shared their annoyance at Kara's bad habits and recklessness and soon found common ground with science as Lena discovered that Clark was quite adept with technology as well. Lena had to remind herself that both Kara and Clark's parents were scientists back in Krypton. Sometimes it still takes her off guard being with someone who actually understands the nitty-gritty details of what she's talking about. Although sometimes Kara would explain things differently, the same concepts in different terms and words and from different approaches.

Truthfully, it was just something that made her fall in love with Kara even more.

She was her star who shined so brightly even when she tried to hold it back… by a lot.

Clark smiled and nodded. "I wonder if she's ever told you this myth or legend of sort she's heard form one of the planets she visited before. She told it to me one time I visited her during her freshman year of college. We never really talked about Lex but my frustrations were spilling out, I wasn't sure if she realized I was talking about him then. It was this story about a hero who fell in love with the person who was to become their worst enemy. They shared many good memories together until forces greater than they could imagine started to pull them apart, put them on different paths.

"One day, the hero's planet was threatened to be destroyed by the person they loved and they were sent to kill them and end the battle. The whole vanquish the dragon or demon thing with our fairy tales. But the hero put down their sword and refused to move in front of their love. Because the hero chose to love instead of fight with might and with their sword and sheath, because too many people had too many ideas of saving the world, not all of them quite just, most fueled by rage or anger or hatred and fear… and it all consumes, it pushes people away and only keeps raising conflict. The hero of the myth believed that good still existed in the person they loved, to fight against what their world dictated, to believe in the simplest thing that most people laugh off and forget. The simplest truth that love transcends, it heals and brings people together once we forget our differences."

"And so the valiant Oran declared that if their love so wished to end the war, they had to strike them down, otherwise they would keep on their crusade of ending the battles but never without striking their beloved down." Lena then went on, trying to imitate Kara, remembering the story Kara told her during one of their first dates at the planetarium of L-Corp's astronomy facility. "You know, Kara said the same thing only recently, love transcends…" she added thoughtfully.

And she would be lying if she said that it didn't have her thinking… Back then she thought that Kara was telling her that story because of, well, _them_. That it was her way of saying that she would never give up on Lena, never stop loving her, even when the circumstances were dire. That they would fight the world and even the worst that they could both become to bring each other back.

But maybe it was more… maybe it could be more…

Maybe it was something similar to what was at the core of what Kara believed in… in what made her a true hero.

"It was her favorite story. She told my earth mom that too during one of the few times they actually met. Alex, quite a lot of times. I'm pretty sure it's driven her mad at one point." Clark replied with a chuckle taking Lena out of her reverie. He leaned back on the table and relaxed as the two shared a laugh because of Kara would. "I thought she made it up back then until I actually met someone from the same planet she got the story from."

"I like the story." Lena then found herself saying with a smile, defending her girlfriend. "But she never did say how it ends."

"It's supposed to be open-ended. It can end however way you want it, hopeful or pessimistic. But I bet you Kara's ending would be the best. She said that she often thought of it but she's never told anyone what it would be, how she thinks it ends."

Lena smiled and nodded as she briefly looked away, wondering if Kara would ever tell her the end of the story one day.

"I hope she tells Conner the story." Clark then said, catching Lena's attention once more. "Thank you, by the way, for doing that. For naming him."

Lena nodded understanding what Clark meant. Giving him a name made it personal, it made him a real being, especially to the eyes of those who still opposed saving him from Cadmus and elected to destroy him or lock him up.

But Conner hasn't done anything, he has a life before him that he could live out to the fullest.

He was more than an experiment, or a project, or a weapon.

He was _family._

"It was the right thing to do." Lena replied.

"I like the name. If it were left to me I might've named him Carl, or maybe something like Krummet."

Lena chuckled. "Let's stick with Conner Kent."

"Kent?" Clark asked confused. "I would've thought you'd name him Luthor."

"Kent sounded better, if you wouldn't mind?" Lena simply replied with a shrug and Clark laughed, giving Lena a nod to say that he definitely agreed.

"Although I do think he needs a Kryptonian name."

That was when the door opened once again, Kara walking in just in time to hear Clark's answer. "Who needs a Kryptonian name?" Kara asked looking like a lost puppy as she stared at both Clark and Lena. She had Streaky – a flying cat of all things – in her arms as she did. The whole thing seemed rather adorable, if it weren't for the 'S' on her chest, the fact that they were in a secret government facility, and the talks of clones, it would seem like just a typical and normal day in some ordinary and mundane household. A place where Superman didn't matter much, a place where the name 'Luthor' was only seen on newspapers and mentioned in passing.

Truthfully, Lena's just thankful that even if it only lasts for a few minutes, Kara could find time to breathe and spend time like a normal human being, pets, family, girlfriend and all. That there was a moment of peace, no matter how fleeting it was.

Although technically the cat was a reminder of Cadmus experiments, something Lena would like to forget. Sometimes the whole thing with Cadmus felt like just one long and terrible nightmare that wouldn't end.

At least Krypto wasn't following her trail today.

"Conner." Clark replied with a smile. "Lena and I were just talking about him."

Kara nodded glancing between both her cousin and Lena as if trying to figure out if Clark had been telling the truth.

"Relax, Kara, your cousin and I have made amends." Lena then replied. "And while I do like the name Conner, I agree that he needs a Kryptonian name. He's part Kryptonian, he should embrace that."

"Hmmm…" Kara hummed. "How about Kon-El? Clone or not, he's a part of the House of El, at least I consider him to be." she replied truthfully finally letting Streaky go as the orange cat with the lighting strike flew towards the desk Lena was working on and made himself comfortable.

Lena smiled back and expressed her approval while Clark gave a goofy thumbs up. "We should work on getting him home to us soon then." he then said. "How about Project 14? Have you thought of giving her a name yet?" he asked, turning to look to Lena.

In all honesty, Lena hasn't. She had wanted to talk to Kara about that but everything just kept getting in the way.

And right on cue Alex started marching inside the lab as well, wrinkle between her brows. "Superman, Supergirl, you might want to see something." she started to say.

Clark nodded, once again assuming his Superman persona and immediately followed Alex out. Kara, however, lingered.

"Is something on your mind?" Lena had asked, wondering if something that Clark had said when she walked in was bothering her. Kara simply shook her head and walked towards Lena. She reached for something hidden underneath her suit and around her neck, a necklace that Lena sometimes noticed she was wearing. She had seen Kara running her fingers over the pendant on some nights, looking out the stars and looking pensive, but Lena always found herself distracted by her girlfriend whenever she tries to ask about it.

Kara removed the necklace and placed it around Lena neck, her fingers running down the chain and briefly over the tear-shaped pendant. "My mom gave me this before she sent me to earth. Literally minutes before my planet exploded." she said with a bittersweet smile. "It looks lovely on you."

Lena reached for Kara's hand that still on the pendant as she ducked her head to catch Kara's attention. Her eyes met the otherworldly blue of Kara's. Supergirl blinked a few times before Lena brought up the hand to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss on her fingers. "Why are you giving it to me now?" she asked, wanting to know about Kara's sudden strange behavior.

There was a look of sadness in her eyes as she sighed and answered Lena's question. "I'm scared." Kara whispered in a moment of honesty.

A moment that felt rather too fragile, with Kara looking more human than ever with the way her soft eyes teared up, the way her lips trembled with a shaky breathe.

Everything that's been happening, Cadmus, the attacks, the recent invasion, the other incidents and crimes that Kara had to deal with as Supergirl and Lena had to deal with as the CEO of L-Corp, all of it taking a toll on them.

"Kara, you're Supergirl." Lena reminded her. She wasn't just the symbol of hope, she was hope, and Lena knew that times had become even more desperate than it was now before, one way or another. If Supergirl could get through it with her friends, they could get through this as well.

Kara shook her head. "But with you I'm Kara Zor-El." she replied. "I lost my planet and my family. And about a year ago I was ready to lose my life protecting this one."

Lena looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" afraid that her earlier thoughts had been a little too correct.

"Myriad." Kara replied. "It's a long story, but, other than you, the only person I ever gave that necklace to is Alex. She's kind of _my_ Supergirl, you know? And I have to be honest, I'm glad badass runs in the family because otherwise I wouldn't have met you. I'm lucky she's always here watching over me and protecting me, and she didn't give up on me that day. Before that I had this uneasy feeling, and that feeling's been growing the past three days. I just… I need to protect you, and the whole city… world really… from whatever it is Cadmus is up to. I have to be a hero and leave your side even when I don't ever want to be away from you." she went on, looking rather thoughtful.

Kara took another deep breath as she tore her eyes away from Lena for a brief second. When she looked back, there was a small smile on her face. A sign of bravery in the face of the heaviness of the things she felt. "I want you to have this Lena. I know we've been talking about infiltrating Cadmus one last time, so I want you to have a piece of me. Wear it so you can keep this part of me with you every time I go or we need to part. Wear it so you know that I'm with you, I will always come back to you, find my way to you."

Lena chuckled, trying her best to hold back the tears.

Because the past three days have been rather emotionally charged and both she and Kara had been overly sentimental as well.

Like they were reaffirming they're love for each other in case it would be the last time.

But it wouldn't be, she won't let it.

They both knew the end was coming, at least with the fight against Cadmus.

"Well now I feel totally ridiculous for not having anything to give you." Lena managed to reply. She was tempted to offer Kara one of the bracelets she was wearing but she remembered something about wedding bands and marriage on Krypton and Lena wasn't entirely sure how Kara would take it. Other than Kara's rather nervous ramblings about Kryptonian wedding customs the night she told her she was Supergirl, they haven't really touched the subject again. And every time that she felt like Kara might, her Kryptonian girlfriend changed the topic.

But Lena didn't have to think for that long about it as Kara leaned in for a quick kiss. "Ah, now I have your kiss on my lips." Her girlfriend said with a wink and before Lena could argue anything else Alex was marching right back in.

"Okay, seriously, crisis like right now." Alex said in a serious tone, "You might want to join us Lena." she added.

Lena simply nodded and took a deep breath.

Looks like Cadmus was making a move.

* * *

The message was loud and clear.

Clark looked beyond enraged upon hearing it too.

Alex had called on Clark to discuss the news that Cadmus had just sent over the airways, a message that Winn managed to intercept in time to stop them from fully broadcasting the news worldwide.

At first it was just the same voice they had heard before during all their transmissions. A good dozen kryptonite bombs had been hidden in different corners of Metropolis. The choice was simple. Turn in known aliens to Cadmus, including the Supers, and the bombs would be disarmed. They had until sundown the next day otherwise Metropolis would become a kryptonite wasteland.

Alex was just about to march back to get Supergirl and Lena to join them at the command center, Winn in the middle of chatting with Oracle about how to deal with the problem when another transmission broke through.

This time it hit the airwaves, broadcasting worldwide.

This time it was Lex Luthor who spoke.

"Superman, I assume you managed to intercept the first message? Please let me be clear. Meet me where it all began for us, an hour before sundown and maybe we can resolve this little mess with just the two of us."

The message was short and simple but meaningful and loaded.

"Don't fall for it Superman. It's a clear trap." J'onn had immediately said.

Alex didn't hear Clark's reply, however, as she rushed to get Lena and Kara.

Lena clenched her jaws visibly after they joined everyone at the command center and heard the playback. Batwoman was currently en route from Gotham to aid them after dealing with their share of Intergang-related problems.

"I agree with J'onn." Lena then said. "He has an exosuit they're building for him and with the arsenal of tech that Cadmus may have developed for him and any unknown quantity of kryptonite, real thing or synthetic, it would be dangerous to meet him alone or with just your cousin."

"I need to meet him on that bridge…" was the only thing Clark had said in response as he turned around in an attempt to walk.

"Kal, where are you going?" Kara immediately asked, running up to her cousin. "You're not coming alone."

"And you're not going with him." Alex and Lena immediately chorused. Alex turned to acknowledge the slightly alarmed CEO who was thankfully on her side on this.

Because what is it with these Kryptonians and their reckless suicidal selflessness?

Alex exchanged a look with Lena before Lena stepped up and walked towards the two Kara. "Both of you aren't leaving here falling for my brother's mind games." she then said, taking a rather authoritative tone that Alex assumed she used to make those old crusty businessmen tremble beneath her. Lena crossed her arms, stood a little straighter, and jutted out her chin as she arched an eyebrow daring either of them to challenge her.

Kara buckled down immediately and Clark looked rather hesitant to move.

"She's right Superman. This fight is all of _ours_." Alex then replied, seizing this as an opportunity to drive some sense into them. She remembered a rather hard discussion she had with her mother and sister just the night before. They finally sat down at a private conference room and watched the video files together. Eliza had argued afterwards that she would stick around at National City until things calm down, providing her assistance in any way possible, especially with the rise of incidences of violence in National City. She may not be able to fight, but she was a scientist too. Her expertise in alien physiology could help in aiding anyone injured with anti-alien hate crimes that are being propelled by Lex Luthor's silent sympathizers.

Because this fight was theirs, all of theirs.

Her dad suffered under the hands of Cadmus as he craftily sabotaged a few of their research projects, impeding progress and fighting against Cadmus from the inside. It was clear that he bore the guilt of turning Hank Henshaw into Cyborg Superman.

And most of all it was clear that he won't ever let anyone harm his girls. Everyone had their parts to play and his was to stop Cadmus in the little ways he could.

The last video was the night before Kara was taken, Jeremiah recorder a rather calm message to his girls, having pieced together what Cadmus had intended to do with Supergirl, what their sudden interest in her was all about. He was trying to get the same information that in the end Lena had provided them and said that it might be his last video log for a while. Cadmus had been trying to move around their resources, with having only one source of funding left – the now defunct Thunder Corp – and rather expensive projects to fund. It was in his hopes that the videos could be found by someone and reach them in time.

The night after that was when he helped Kara escape.

And now his fate was unknown.

So no, Alex wasn't kidding. She believed every single word she had just said.

This fight was all _theirs._ It might've started as a rivalry between former allies, a rift between two friends, but years of having to go through their growing feud, years of despicable crimes, descent into madness and all, but now it's become personal.

Her father, Conner, and of course, Kara and Lena's clone made it all personal.

Especially when Mon-El kept insisting that Project 14 was, technically speaking, their child since Kryptonians used a birthing matrix to create progeny and raise children to a certain age before they are allowed to be with their parents and that Project 14 was undoubtedly made from what he assumed was the best of both Lena's and Kara's genetic components.

"No, don't make that argument again cause it sounds like Lex and Clark made a baby and thus we have Conner." Winn had winced as he heard Mon-El tell Alex this the other day.

"We're talking about Kara and the hot CEO…" Mon-El had replied.

"And if my sister wasn't busy saving the city, you would be in trouble for having said that." Alex had then quipped.

"I'm just saying," Mon-El had argued back, "with those high and mighty perfectionists of Kryptonians…" he had went on until he immediately cut to the point, not daring to continue the rant when Alex glared at him, "That's how they make babies, okay? And last time I checked when we discussed this, 14 has Lena's DNA and Kara's DNA. How she's made somewhat follows how Kryptonian babies are made, not exactly, I might point out, but kinda close enough in human standards. Doesn't someone's progeny have two progenitors? You combine one DNA with the other and there you go, you have a kid."

Alex had simply glared back in response to that, not entirely sure how to respond to his argument.

Technically speaking, a clone is an organism or cell, or group of organisms or cells, produced asexually from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical, and with Lena's DNA in the mix for 14 – sadly with Lex's DNA mixed with Clark's for Conner – calling them a simple clone doesn't sound right.

It most definitely didn't feel right.

Although if what Mon-El said was true, it did feel like they were planning on saving her niece from Cadmus' nefarious plans.

And if anything it only added to her stakes in this.

Clark smiled sadly and chuckled, snapping Alex's thoughts back to the present. " _El Mayarah_." he said. "Stronger together. I know it would be suicide to face Lex alone, and in all of this we haven't been alone. We had so many of our friends helping us. I'm heading to Gotham for a bit before checking on Lois and Lucy. I have a friend who I think might be able to help."

"Is this friend rather broody and may or may not have inspired my own friend to live a life of vigilantism?" Lena asked.

"Well, uh, yeah…" Superman replied and Lena relaxed a little after that.

Alex breathed in a sigh of relief, Kryptonians on suicide missions were off the table, at least for now.

Clark was about to leave when they had an alert from downtown National City. The current leader of Intergang, someone working with Lex, was sending his cold-blooded regards with a rain of bullets on alien and human citizens alike. "Go, we've got this." Kara said with a nod towards Clark before watching her cousin fly away.

Supergirl rushed out behind him only to return in a flash to kiss Lena on the cheek with a promise to be back soon and then off she was.

Alex, in the meantime, was ready to back her sister up, feeling her pockets for her phone to ask for her own girlfriend's assistance in the matter.

"Heard you needed back-up, Danvers?" Maggie asked when the NCPD finally reached the scene. Alex, Vasquez, and a couple of her most trusted DEO agents were already there, setting up a perimeter around the area.

Things had been getting more and more heated as some of what Alex would assume as left-over Cadmus failed experiments – they looked a little more like _Terminators_ than anything really, some with alien physiology thrown into the mix – were unleashed by Intergang members and thus back up was entirely what they needed.

Alex managed to tackle down a few of them with ease, hitting what they had determined to be their weak spots while Maggie fired a few shots at oncoming attackers. Vasquez had lead a small team infiltrating the sewers where the so-called sleeper Cadmus army were coming from to stop them immediately, M'gann and Mon-El tagging along. Guardian was busy on the streets with them. Thankfully the attack was localized.

Supergirl was, without a doubt, the one making the most progress in stopping them. However, the alien tech that Intergang managed to get were making things much more difficult to deal with.

Alex managed to dodge yet another attack when she spotted one of Intergang's foot soldiers raise his weapon on a currently occupied Maggie. Using a move she learned from Sara Lance, she managed to cross the distance between them and flip him over. Adopting a different move she learned from Kate, she managed to break a few good bones to leave the guy incapacitated.

So maybe those training sessions from hell did have some benefit.

And now Alex found herself a cool gun too.

Which was exactly what she needed to even the playing field a little.

Alex used the alien gun to stop one of Cadmus' creepy cyborgs from reaching one of the DEO agents still left behind to aid them in the fight as she crossed over to Maggie, the two of them back to back and with their weapons up. "Nice to know you're keeping an eye on me." Maggie joked.

"Well, you did save me back then with Deathstroke's mercs." Alex replied.

"I believe the debt was paid. You went out with me on a date."

"Maybe this time I'm the one asking for one." Alex shrugged as she took down another foe with her alien gun. "Oh, I'm definitely keeping this."

Maggie simply chuckled at her antics as the fighting ensued. Alex was thankful that Maggie was rather skillful herself. She had a great partner to take down her enemies and she worried a little less than she usually would knowing that she could hold her own.

It wasn't long before Alex noticed the numbers decreasing, Supergirl even hovering just a few feet up from where she stood to take down the last of the cyborgs with her heat-vision.

Alex turned just in time to see her sister giving her a nod to indicate that everything seemed to be clear.

Just for Supergirl to find herself crash landing next to her sister.

The pavement gave way to Kara as she fell, creating a sea of concrete waves trying to rise up. "Supergirl!" Alex cried out as she rushed towards her sister, Maggie was close behind, trying to find out where the blast had come from.

"Alex…" she muttered as Kara tried to raise herself out. Alex turned to look at Maggie who nodded upwards.

The sun was shining brightly behind the figure in the skies, casting a long dark shadow on him but even from the distance Alex could note a few distinct features on their attacker.

For a minute, Alex could feel herself hold her breath and brace herself. Kara too who stood up next to her in silent shock, undoubtedly seeing more than what she could see.

Kara was visibly shaking, as her mouth opened, her eyes transfixed on the figure above with a mix of terror and hurt in her eyes. Alex had feared for the worst as she turned to look back up, raising a hand to fight back the glaring light of the sun. The flowing red cape behind him was the first clue. But Alex couldn't help but think that it was all wrong. It couldn't have been Conner. Lena said that he was wearing a black suit with red lining, no cape.

Although the cape could've been an add-on.

Instead the man above them had the distinct red cape of Superman but the suit was all wrong. It was black in the middle and seemed to be reinforced with an armor like material instead of the distinct polymer-like material of Superman's suit. It had blue linings on the side, meeting the blackish gray arms that both look cybernetic. The distinct red boots were also gone, instead Alex saw the red and blue mixing with the same blackish gray color of the cybernetic components that indicated that his legs were also robotic, at least below the shins.

She could only make out the tip of the crest on his chest but Alex could tell it was the same as that of the House of El.

"No." Kara heard her whisper before turning to look at Alex, tears spilling now as she struggled to say anything.

Alex was tempted to ask what was wrong, Kara had never looked at her with such heartbreak until that moment. But Alex never had the chance to ask anything as Kara hurdled herself in front of Alex to stop another heat-vision attack on them. Kara bit her lips and planted her feet steadily on the ground as she took the blow before flying up to meet the attacker. From below Kara didn't really seem to be trying so hard to fight the blurry figure above but then one of his arms opened to reveal claw-like hands grabbing Kara and crushing her. Kara yelled out in pain as Alex raised her newly obtained alien gun to try and test the distance she could shoot.

She didn't get to, however, as Kara was flung down, once again crashing towards Alex. She rushed towards her sister, crouching down to check if she was okay. Kara was coughing, and she seemed to have been coughing up blood.

The figure above started to slowly descend upon them. Anger rushing through Alex's veins and empowering her, she dared raise her weapon up ready to take down what surely was yet another one of Cadmus' monstrosities for hurting Kara.

Except, when his feet landed on the ground, it wasn't a battle cry that Alex let out, it was a gasp. Maggie turned to Alex, distracted by the sudden change of her actions, keeping her weapon up as Alex's hands shook and trembled as she nearly dropped hers.

Because finally, finally she saw what it was that shook Kara to her core.

One eye was glowing red, a sign of metallic cheekbone cut through his cheeks, some sign of other metallic implants outlining the left side of his face.

But his face, oh God his face.

How Alex dreamed of seeing his face once again.

The second coming of Cyborg Superman took a step closer. "Stand back." Alex yelled, her voice breaking as she fought every wave of emotion taking over her in a vain attempt to keep her hand steady, gritting her teeth and fighting so hard to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks.

He halted for minute only to raise his hand ready for an attack.

And Alex though she could do it, she would stop him. She had to protect Kara.

But stop him how?

She couldn't shoot him.

He wasn't just another faceless cyborg, and God she had hoped that he wasn't some dead resurrected zombie, he couldn't be because his skin wasn't pale and bloodless like the ones they faced before.

It felt like an eternity of weighing her decisions as Alex tried to wrack her brain on what to do in this situation. If she doesn't move, he was going to kill her and Kara and Maggie for sure.

But if she did then it would mean that she might have to kill her father.

The gun pointed at his direction doesn't seem to slow his attack down. What did stop him, however, was the Martian Manhunter slamming down on the ground.

They fought for a few minutes, Alex finally dropping her weapon, everything sinking in. She could feel the blood draining from her face as Maggie rushed towards her. The last thing she could remember was collapsing into her girlfriend's arms.

It was a strange switch of things, Alex had to admit, waking up on a bed in the med bay. Winn had his jaws set as J'onn personally explained what had happened after Alex blacked out. She had been out for almost an hour that it scared them quite a bit, afraid that she had been mortally wounded. Kara stood at the corner of the med bay looking a little lost herself, staring at the floor with her arms across her chest. She could see Maggie outside, looking through the glass walls of the med bay with a torn up expression on her face.

J'onn was saying something about Kate and Lena's investigations and how they found out that Cadmus had been planning to make a **Mark II** for Cyborg Superman.

And truthfully Alex wanted to lash out for a moment, let anger take over. Because they knew there was a new version of Cyborg Superman and they knew her father disappeared, and now he _was_ Cyborg Superman.

But how could have they known? Cadmus had too many possible choices for a _specimen_. Certainly a bioengineer no longer in his prime after his initial disappearance wouldn't be the number one choice. Sure his father worked with the DEO for a short tenure, but Alex highly doubted that he managed to keep up his training while in Cadmus. At least the videos he had recorder pointed to that.

And for a moment, Alex just wanted to curl up on the floor and cry. A part of her blamed herself.

If she didn't stop looking, if after Myriad she left once again to try and find him, if she had been a better agent…

But she couldn't. She couldn't blame anyone, she couldn't blame herself. Everyone had a part to play and everyone failed at some point and made mistakes. She couldn't have seen this coming, no one could.

And it was all too much. Instead of doing anything, she sat on her bed staring at the door clenching her fists in a desperate attempt to feel something because she simply couldn't will herself to move.

Because this couldn't be real. _It just can't be._

"Alex." she heard J'onn say, reaching out to her hand. "It's not the end. We'll get him back, we'll still fight to get him back. There are people who can help us. The kid who helped develop the vaccine for the White Martian cells taking over for one, Ms. Luthor too. She's back at L-Corp looking into what she could make to assist us. I said it to Kara, I'm saying this to you now. The fight is not over."

Alex nodded as J'onn left ordering Winn to follow him. Maggie lingered outside for a second before J'onn asked her to leave as well, leaving Kara alone with Alex.

Alex wasn't entirely sure how to feel. Does her mom know? Did J'onn tell her? What happens next?

She took a deep shaky breath, her emotions finally taking over her as her walls crumbled. It was like a dam broke and the tears couldn't just stop falling. Within minutes she felt Kara's hand reaching out for her, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. "I'm so sorry Alex. I… I'm just… I'm so sorry…" she whispered before crumbling down the floor by the side of Alex's bed.

"This is my fault. This… all of this… If I didn't… If I never left the Phantom Zone… If I didn't take you flying or risked using my powers, if the DEO never found out… Alex, oh Rao, Alex he was right there! I could've saved him! I could've taken him with me!" Kara yelled out, the pain in her tone clear. "If only I was strong enough then… if… if I could've…"

And hurts Alex more to think that Kara would blame herself.

To think that there must be a part of Kara thinking that Alex was blaming her for this.

Alex got out of the bed before she pulled her sister up and into a tight embrace. "It's not your fault." She said in a whisper, tears still flowing freely. "Kara, listen to me, it's not your fault." she went on, pulling her closer.

Because somehow that was the one thing she knew was true and Alex held onto Kara as tightly as she held onto that knowledge. They can't blame each other for this, they can't fall apart because of it.

Especially since each other's all they got.

Kara's phone started to buzz from where she kept it from her boot. Alex couldn't help but chuckle as she could feel it vibrating against her leg. She released Kara a little waving towards her cell as Kara hastily wiped her eyes on the sleeves of her suit.

And if Kara's face was any indication, things may have just gotten worse. She looked up at Alex, worry and concern lining her features.

"Go." Alex tells her calmly.

"Alex, I can't leave…"

"Yes you can." Alex replied. "Honestly Kara, I kind of want a moment to be alone." she replied but Kara still didn't want to move. Alex reached out to grab Kara's hands and gave it a squeeze. "Tragedies can fall on us, but the world doesn't stop turning Kara. The world needs Supergirl. Besides, we still need to make Cadmus pay." she then said, anger slipping into her tone as she mentioned Cadmus.

Kara nodded and reluctantly let her go. She took a deep breath and Alex saw her do her best to put on a brave face and soldier on.

And as soon as Kara left, Alex felt herself take a seat back on her bed, still grappling with what she wants to do and what happens next. She knew what she said to Kara had truth in it, she had to soldier on.

But it hurt.

Oh, did it hurt so bad.

And the jumbled mess of thoughts in Alex's head only made matters worse.

Because how does she face someone she needs to stop and wants to save?

* * *

Kara wasn't entirely sure what to feel at the moment. She was doing her best to compartmentalize her thoughts and focus on whatever task was at hand. For now, it was to respond to the emergency message she got from L-Corp. She was still pretty much shaken from what had happened earlier, and the brief message from Jess of all people, and not Lena, didn't help ease her nerves.

Because if Lena could call for help, why wouldn't she?

But Supergirl soldiered on. She had to. It was the only way to get through everything that's happening around them. She knew and understood that entropy was the natural order of things, but this was just a little much.

Hopefully, not _too much._

_SOS, call Supergirl_

That was all that was sent to her. Jess has had Kara's number for a while now, mostly since Kara liked to drop in on Lena even when they were still friends, the visits completely unrelated to work, and she wanted to make sure her schedule was clear. She was the first to figure out that she and Lena were in fact dating, what with Kara basically being there every single day for lunch. She was respectful of course, not saying much of anything. But Jess would always text her if Lena had a bad day, and Kara had to admit that she liked being equipped by things like that so she could always cheer her up.

It also came in handy for emergency purposes.

Kara was scrambling on her feet to get to L-Corp. She risked a second or two to talk to Winn and figure out what was going on in the company but other than finding absolutely nothing alarming, just all employees being sent home early, nothing was put out of place.

"Are you sure they didn't do some weird video loop?" Kara had asked, wanting to make sure that Winn did thorough work all while breathing down his neck. The clock was ticking after all. Thankfully, Winn was a master of his craft and it barely took him seconds to get the answers to all her questions.

Which meant that when Winn saw that she was right, the videos were tampered with, Kara was already on her way out, Winn simply talking to her through her earpiece.

She got to L-Corp with seconds to spare, the building being completely empty that it was unnerving. Lena's office had been empty too.

Supergirl let herself in through the now replaced balcony door and walked towards the door to Lena's office. It was a strange feeling, entering through the balcony and walking out the door for once, but she needed to find Jess.

And sure enough, she saw Lena's secretary under her desk, shaking and sobbing. Her laptop, the one Kate had sent, had been destroyed.

"She… they… he…" was all she could say as she asked Jess what was wrong. "Couldn't call earlier… black box thing ruined signals for anything… and oh God … he… _him…_ a-and, and her… she… all the guards…" she went on. Jess was completely shaken up, rambling on and on with incoherent nonsense. A quick scan of the floor revealed to Kara that most of Lena's security detail laid messily dead, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Jess, please, I need you to tell me what happened. Where is Ms. Luthor? Is she okay? Is Lena alive and unharmed?"

Jess's lips quivered as she breathed in a shaky breath, only managing a nod in response. "We need to get you out of here. I'm taking you somewhere safe, okay? And we're going to find Lena." she replied, picking Jess up and exiting the premises the same way she entered. She took Jess back to the DEO, not knowing where else to go, Winn immediately rushing to her side. "Can you help her? Make sure someone's looking after her. Something's happened to Lena."

"Yeah, I'll handle this. But you might want to see this." Winn then said, handing his tablet to Kara before looking for someone who could help them.

In the tablet Kara saw the video of a woman in a distinct looking uniform singlehandedly disarming most of Lena's guards and taking care of them before the video feed was completely disrupted. There were other windows popped open, information on hacking the email addresses of most L-Corp employees saying that they were to leave the premises immediately and a message from Oracle saying that they were alerted by something, a package from Metropolis that they intercepted meant to be sent to L-Corp containing a bomb. Suspecting more packages to come, they had everyone else leave.

Which explains why less people were harmed in what could have been an all-out attack.

_Keep you all posted. We're experiencing some interruptions on our end. Feeds getting intercepted and possibly compromised._

That was her last message to Winn.

One of the files open showed the name Mercy Graves, and below was all the information that Kara needed to know before practically tossing the tablet into the hands of some random agent and taking into the skies.

Mercy Graves, Lex's bodyguard.

It meant that Lex Luthor wanted to get into the building, cause some chaos perhaps, anything just to reach Lena.

As if the whole chaos with the new Cyborg Superman and the attack earlier that day wasn't enough. As if Lex hadn't caused heavy emotional damage for them to deal with already.

A mixed feeling of anger and dread started to build in the pit of her stomach as Kara flew around the city, doing a quick scan in her attempts of finding Lena. A part of her was scared, scared that this morning could have been the last time that she ever gets to see Lena, that the kiss on the cheek she gave as she left would have been her last kiss with her.

That this morning could be the last time they could be together, and the feeling was overwhelming. The fear was close to filling her eyes to tears because the worst that could happen seem to be coming to pass.

But the anger, oh the anger was building up too. Lex had messed with his cousin's life, had caused such great heartbreak in Lena's, and she would be damned if she let the man ruin their happiness too. Let him destroy what they have and mess with her life as well.

Lex had already done enough. His mother definitely so much more.

And just like the devil, you come call on his name more than once, in your thoughts or otherwise, and he will come calling on you too.

"She's my sister Supergirl, she was always going to choose me, my side." Kara suddenly heard, making her come to a halt, flying somewhere over the middle of the city. "What did you expect?"

It was Lex, none other than him.

And Kara knew, form the self-assured way he spoke, she could already imagine it.

It was the real deal.

The texture and layer in the sound of each syllable he made, the mannerisms infused in the way he spoke, the calculated choice of words that he knew would affect her most.

It was Lex Luthor, without a doubt.

And Lex had just told her he had Lena.

This was what Jess was trying to say all along. The attack at L-Corp already had her panicking, the fact that Lex strolled into Lena's office all while she had to deal with what Cadmus had done to her adoptive father… Kara was shaking to the core. But more than sadness, more than her fears and anxieties, she was shaking because of that building anger.

Kara could feel her heart almost skipping a beat as she tried to fight her fears from taking over, feeling its grips starting to overtake her logic and common sense.

But it was hard to focus on anything else.

_Lex has Lena, Lex has Lena… Oh Rao, Lex actually took Lena…_

"But maybe it's not the end for your tragic love affair, hmm?" he went on, speaking so disaffected and casual, as if he was making a business deal. As if he knew that he would get what he wanted from it for sure. "What? Didn't think I wouldn't notice or pick up on it? I know my sister, Supergirl, quite well in fact. She doesn't need to say anything. Choose me as well and you two can be together, I can allow that. Our mom might not but who cares, right?"

Kara clenched her jaw, not even bothering to give a response to someone she wasn't talking face to face with. She started circling around as she did her best to clear her head and focus on what's important, focus on any telltale sign that could tell her where Lex's voice was coming from.

"That is, if Lena even truly cares about you. If you weren't just one of her, shall we say, flavor of the month when she's bored? She's had a lot of that in the past. Never quite as much as Katherine Kane or Bruce Wayne, or maybe even me, but still. Indiscretions were always a part of being a Luthor." Lex said, and he said it in such a slick and arrogant way, his insinuations not completely lost on her, that made her really just want to punch him in the face. Hard.

Kara knew, Lena's never said it to her face, those three little words, but she felt it. From the way they kissed, the way she held her hand or pressed her head on her chest, her heartbeat becoming the CEO's favorite lullaby. Form the way Lena worries, the way she tries even when she's not perfect, and from all the ways more than words could ever say or describe, Kara knew without a shadow of the doubt that Lena loved her.

And she wasn't going to let Lex's words taint that. No.

"Or maybe she's gotten tired of you, maybe that's why it was so easy."

No, she won't listen to it. Kara gritted her teeth even harder, her hands balling into fists so tight her knuckles had turned white and she was actually drawing blood from her palms.

"She came of her own accord, you know."

No, she won't buy into it. Not in the way Lex was trying to convince her. She shut her eyes. Kara did her best to fight every negative thought popping in her mind.

"Would you?"

The question caught her off guard, eyes opening in surprise. It sounded almost like a challenge.

And Lex was expecting her to fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.

"Can you even find her to begin with, even if you tried? Figure out where she is?" Lex scoffed, goading her even more. Kara closed her eyes again to try and focus on figuring out where the sound was coming form but she could hear it from all directions of the city. Her desperation was clawing at her, the rush of emotions from earlier that day still holding her logical mind hostage but she had to fight it. She knew she had to fight it.

She can't give in to any of Lex's games.

The voice echoed on from all corners as if Lex had set out multiple speakers in secluded areas with the volume set low enough that only Kara could hear it and Kara realized that's the reason why she can't pinpoint him. It could even mean that Lex had gained a good distance away already. It could mean that he was watching her through eyes she couldn't see so that he could speak with her while getting further and further away.

As proof, Kara zeroed in on one of the locations his voice was coming from and found a tiny speaker attached to the bottom of a bench in the park. People all around turned to look at their favorite hero, surprised to see her leave just as soon as she came.

Kara wasted no time taking to the skies once more. She'll find Lena. She would. She won't let Lex's words get to her.

But he just wouldn't shut up.

"Betray your cousin and maybe I'll tell you where to find her." Lex then said, sounding quite satisfied of himself. He was watching, that was the only reason Kara could come up with. This, her struggle, her panic, this was all just amusement to him. "I gave him a deadline. I'm giving you one too." he went on.

Kara halted amongst the clouds, the warm hues of the sky showing a beautiful sunset. For a brief second she thought of Krypton, of how the skies of her home looked like.

She's lost one home already, she wasn't going to lose another, not in Lena.

"Before sunrise where you first saved her, Supergirl." Lex then said, calling her attention back to her present predicament. "Oh, and tell anyone I'll be there, and my side or not, she will die."

His words were doing its intended effect, setting her blood to a boil.

But Lex won't stop in trying to provoke her. "Think I wouldn't dare? Would you really risk me proving that?" he continued to say.

Flashes of the worst of her nightmares come into mind as Lex's words sunk in. He had her, he had Lena.

And with the worsts he's seen that he's done, that came to from what Cadmus had built and taken from her, Kara knew she wouldn't dare.

She knew he was business. That he was serious.

After all, he was her cousin's greatest enemy.

"Tick tock, Supergirl. Tick Tock." Lex all but whispered from wherever he was.

Kara gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in frustration once more, a low growl forming in her throat.

Lex might have brought Superman to his knees once or twice, made him make seemingly impossible decisions.

But she was not her cousin, she was Kara Zor-El, last daughter of Krypton, the last daughter of the House of El.

And if Lex means business then Kara would just have to step up to meet his game.

If he hurts Lena, if so much as one strand of hair on her head was misplaced, if one light scratch on her porcelain skin was present, oh Lex would learn a lesson or two.

He would know what it meant to cross her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: So Cadmus is evil and so is Lex (but we've established that)… Again, guys, thank you so much for the support, the comments and reviews for this fic and all! You guys are what keep me going :3
> 
> Easter egg, the name Carl Krummet was used by one of Superboy's incarnations (like around the 90s).
> 
> On that note, I'm sorry, I had to do this with Jeremiah, okay (also, more dramatic than the show… I'm hoping the payoff for the story is better but also I keep imagining Chyler as Alex in the scenes in the fic and I'm a mess…)?! It's been something on my mind since season 1, especially since Zor-El became the Cyborg Superman in the New 52 titles. I figured the show might want to do him instead later on or mesh that storyline with Jeremiah being taken by Cadmus (since he is essentially the father figure for Kara on earth for a short period of time). It makes for an emotional moment, and hey, it definitely makes Cadmus an overarching villain not just for Supergirl but for Alex as well throughout the seasons to come. I just feel like Cadmus could keep coming back, you know? But under the leadership of different people (like Westfield), and we can get to explore the different storylines tied to Cadmus as the show progresses (like Superboy's story line! Give me Conner/Kon-El!).
> 
> UPNEXT: A very angry Kara that Cadmus should be afraid of (Mon-El knows he is), the end of Lena's double agent career, the clone awakens (?), and a race against the clock for Alex plus that emotional Sanvers scene that I moved.
> 
> It's the countdown to the end guys.


	26. Project Cadmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the support with this fic, you all have been amazing readers. That said, sorry for the cliffhangers, I've got a flair for dramatics and a penchant for keeping you all hanging… :P
> 
> Sorry the update took so long, I was exhausted last week that I could only do quick/shorter updates for other fics…
> 
> Anyways, here is chapter 26 featuring Lex Luthor! An angry Kara! And ladies and gents, it's time to awaken Superboy (we're finally getting him out of that damned pod…)!
> 
> …I'm gonna 'attempt' shorter chapters…

Lena was trying to wrap her head around everything that's happened since she woke up in her girlfriend's arms this morning.

Because with all honesty, the very definition of _a lot_ had just happened.

She couldn't stay there. When she saw the distraught look on Kara's face as they treated her in the med bay when she returned, when she saw Alex limp and unconscious in Kara's arms when they arrived, yeah, she knew she couldn't.

She had to go do something, she could use L-Corp's research facilities, just not there. Not at the DEO where the horrors of what the family she knew of, the family she had been a part of for the longest time, had done to the people she cared about.

To the person she loved.

There was a part of that her that knew she should've seen something as terrible as Cadmus turning Jeremiah Danvers into one of their projects. A part that wanted to blame herself because the crimes that Lillian and Lex had done would be forever hers to bear.

She took her job as a welcomed distraction all while trying to come up with ten different ways she could help out. She had a brilliant mind, this shouldn't be difficult.

Lena found herself at a rather silent L-Corp plaza. As a matter of fact, her whole building seemed to have been deserted and emptied out. Not even security was present.

That should have been the first sign that something was wrong.

And yet she dared. She still did.

She stepped into her own private elevator, the one that took her straight up to her floor where she soon found signs of distress littering her halls. She treaded carefully, hearing the quiet sobs of a frightened Jess coming from somewhere.

That's what she used to move herself. She couldn't stay like that, with her feet frozen to the floor. Her best secretary was still there, doing her job, in what seemed to be the worst crisis ever.

"Jess." Lena breathed out as she rushed towards her. Jess was visibly shaking in her seat, tears continuously trailing down her cheeks, looking at a black box on the counter of the reception area with beeping red and green lights. She didn't dare move.

Lena instinctively tried to rich out to the black box to study the particular item but stopped herself when she saw Jess shake her head in protest, her eyes alarmed. She looked over towards the large double doors of her office, her way of pointing Lena to the right direction.

Lena followed her sight and took a deep breath to calm herself. She felt for her phone in her bag and saw that she had no signal. It didn't take her long to figure out that the black box was a jammer of sort, and as for Jess, she figured that whoever the intruder was had set some kind of trap for Jess that was connected to that black box.

But in this case, she supposed, her office might have been the wrong direction.

Lena calmed the beating of her heart, jutting her chin out and marching into her office with the same flair and command she usually had as the CEO of a multi-billion company. All lights in her office were turned off but the brightness of the sun filtering through her glass windows were enough to fill her office with a cool and somber rush of light.

No it didn't feel warm, and Lena couldn't help but make the comparison of how it differed from Kara's sun-soaked apartment. To the left side of her desk stood a rather tall woman in a militaristic uniform. Lena felt her eyes on her before shifting her attention back to the man in a crisp white suit standing behind Lena's desk, facing the light as his eyes kept its gaze over the city.

"I see the appeal. You have a better view." Lex said coolly, still keeping his gaze towards the city. "And a balcony, how nice." he added with a chuckle before he turned to face Lena.

Lena did her best to hide her surprise. Really, it's been three days, it would be a lie if she said she wasn't expecting to run into Lex anytime soon.

And yet all Lena could come up with as a reply was "Lex."

Lex simply smirked, a smug look on his face as he made his way around the desk and towards Lena. "What's the matter little sister? I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm or are you still holding that whole Metallo thing over my head?" he asked before placing his hands on Lena's arms. "I apologize for my means, but the world had to know we were on opposing sides and I was hoping _you_ would see things my way. I try to have my people kill you and they still suspected you to be behind all of it. The explosion with the Venture, everything. It was all a part of teaching you a hard lesson Lena. The methods were crude, I know, but to the world we're always going to be _Luthors_ and with their tainted sights, they'll never see or appreciate what that truly meant."

Lena looked away, this was harder than she thought. Fighting against Lex and his mad cause was so much easier when they were miles away from each other. But up close? All she could see was her brother again. The brother she lost and wished she still had. The one she yearned to save from his own darkness despite all the horrid things he had done. "I could have died." Lena managed to reply, pushing through all the hurt and feelings of betrayal as she stared Lex right back in his eyes.

"And yet here you are." Lex simply replied with a smug smile. "Do you honestly think I would miscalculate what with two Supers flying around? I managed to do you a favor really, and in the end mother managed to obtain her test subject. I guess you can say it worked all according to plan."

"Plan?" Lena urged him to talk as she stepped away from Lex's grasp and made her way towards her decanter. "I don't suppose you'd like a drink? Scotch?"

"Neat." Lex simply replied. "And yes. Now that you're fully a part of Cadmus, I suppose you understand why. We needed an army, the best possible one to send all those _invaders_ back into the darkest corners of space. But if we want to win, we need the best of the best. Something or someone that can send Superman cowering in fear along with his cousin."

"And I suppose the new Cyborg Superman you've recently unleashed is the answer to that?" Lena replied, trying to mask the hatred seeping in her tone as she walked back to hand Lex his drink. Lex raised her glass towards Lena, inviting her to take a sip of her own drink along with him.

"Oh no, that's just mother's own machinations. You know which projects I'm mostly interested in. The new Cyborg Superman is just for _entertainment_ , shall we say? Besides, it's not without its purpose. You cripple the mind and you cripple everything else, including the body… and our new Cyborg Superman model should be sending our enemies into one emotional frenzy." he replied with such pride.

"You're talking about Projects 13 and 14 then? You think two would be enough?" Lena replied, ignoring what Lex had said about what Lillian has done to Jeremiah Danvers.

Because she was still seething about it. About the cruelty of it. And she hated the fact that she knew and understood the logic behind their attack.

Doesn't mean she didn't loathe it.

"To start with. I was hoping we could have more." Lex replied. "With my intellect, you're genius, _our_ great genes… once we have those Kryptonians on their knees, we can have the world." he went on, setting his glass on Lena's desk before he turned to walk towards her windows. His gloved right hand, the hand he had lost to an accident related to one of his mad experiments, laid gently on the glass as if he was reaching out to the city, to grasp its heart in his palms and control it.

But to Lena, it seemed that choking the life out of it was more of Lex's tendency.

"I suppose Lionel did us good with at least one thing. Our mutated genes are the most perfect match to a Kryptonian's, who would have thought?" Lex then said, looking pensive. It was hard to read him like this, yet Lena tried anyways.

She tried to figure out what was going through his head, she had to, if she wanted to stay one step ahead of him. "You don't look surprised by what I said." Lex then said more than asked as he turned his gaze back to Lena.

"It's not that hard to figure out." Lena replied, again trying to hide her contempt.

She was a Luthor no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried.

But she wasn't going to let Lex's definition of being a Luthor define her.

Lex chuckled. "Of course." he replied walking back to Lena. "Project 13 will be activated soon, and Project 14, with your help, I hope within a week's time? We can program her memories soon and once she's stable, age her. I heard they used a different approach with Project 13 because they kept making mistakes, although I honestly think that Westfield's own vanity was the reason behind it." Lex then said, adopting a more business-like tone as he spoke. Lena could tell the hint of dislike in his tone regarding Westfield that made her wonder if that was the reason why Lex had wanted her to be a part of his team all this time.

Because he didn't trust his allies, not completely.

And while Lena wondered just how much Lex wanted to trust her, she could reason that the blood they shared was enough to trust her more in his eyes.

Or at least keep her under his close watch in case she betrays him.

"I trust I have your full cooperation on that project, my dear sister." Lex then said, closing the distance between them as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Lena had to be thankful that she grew up with the Luthors at that moment, because she knew that Lex's statement, no matter how simple, was definitely loaded, laced with expectations and unspoken threats.

That if she dared betrayed him…

That she shouldn't even think it…

Because Lex was a man who demanded absolute loyalty and those who fail… well… the flood of corpses and experiments that had come out from Cadmus alone should be enough of an indicator of what might happen.

"You do." Lena replied, and it wasn't really a lie.

Because she would do anything in her power to protect that little girl. To protect Conner as well.

"Good to hear." he replied, keeping eyes on Lena's. "Because I love you, my dear sister, I do. Especially when I found out that you truly are my blood. I was crushed when you simply refused to understand my position and my views. It would be all too tragic if we find ourselves on opposing sides." Lex then said before he grabbed his glass once more to take a sip of the drink and Lena mimicked him.

If anything, she needed to steady her nerves.

"Now, I heard from mother that you said Supergirl was yours to take care of? I've heard she's come to your rescue quite a number of times already." he then said, changing the subject once more.

"She's pretty, it would have been a waste." Lena replied, playing her part, feeling her nerves starting to tense again.

Lex smirked. "I guess we are our father's children. I wish I had more time to study her like Superman, I wish I was able to get the information I needed. Mother and Paul say that from their surveillance and testing she is superior than her cousin, do you know why?"

"No." she lied, hoping that Lex wouldn't pick up on it if she kept her reply simple and short.

"Shame, but perhaps there's still time to know, hmm?" he asked, finishing his drink and once again setting the glass down on her desk. "I've seen the initial testing on Project 14, far more promising than 13, indeed. But I'm a little biased to 13, I hope you understand. Nevertheless, 14 is our secret weapon while we can have 13 to be our general. We can usher in a new age and, if you want to, I'll let you keep your _pet_. I'm a reasonable man, just convince her to help our cause." he went on, exuding the same confidence and charm that had won over many people to his side before his true colors were revealed.

Lex walked towards Lena, caressing her cheek with the back of his left hand. "My pretty sister, I do hope you still know how to seduce a woman." he started to say before he walked around her as if trying to appraise Lena's worth. "Or would I have to step in? I _can_ be charming when I want to, you would know that."

Lena tried not to stiffen, she tried to control herself and not show how much she cared. But Lex's comment was hitting a sore spot for her, her own jealousy.

He was toying with her and she couldn't let him win.

"You tried killing her cousin." Lena replied without it sounding so much of a growl.

"Then I do suppose you're the better choice." Lex thought sounding pensive as he continued to circle Lena, as if he was actually thinking about this seriously. "Do you think Kryptonians welcome same sex attraction? I really don't know, I never came across it in my research. Maybe I could've seduce Superman too." he said with a chuckle and Lena couldn't help but think what sick joke it was. If anything, it reminded her that Lex was definitely not the man she thought he was, if not a strong reminder that the good man she knew he could have been was long gone. "Do you think they do weird things in bed?" he then asked, catching Lena off guard.

Lena stayed silent as Lex halted right in front of her, realization sparkling in his green eyes. "You already know the answer to that, don't you? I'm guessing it's a no, but do tell me, dear sister, what kind of rush was it?" he asked an evil grin settling on his lips upon the discovery. Lena felt disgusted by his tone and his insinuations. She gritted her teeth and simply raised an eyebrow in defiance as he pried on. "Sleeping with the enemy, with someone who could literally break you if she wanted to? How does it feel to make a god tremble in your hands?"

Lena tried to keep her cool despite feeling the anger bubbling in her blood. She wasn't going to let Lex twist her relationship with Kara or how she views it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to remove the images that Lex was putting in her head – because no she wasn't going to let Lex taint this – and when she opened her eyes she managed to find a newfound strength.

Kara was out there facing impossible battles day and night, having gone through the worst of the worst and still finding the strength to put that 'S' on her chest, be Supergirl and be Kara Danvers.

She had a fight to win.

Because Alex was right, this was all their fight.

And this one with Lex was hers to win.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she threw back at him and Lex laughed in response.

"Careful now, Lena, or I might thing you actually care about her." Lex commented and Lena tried to hide the hatred, swallow the anger, and simply smirked.

Lex looked back at her, unreadable expression on his face before he turned to nod over at his body guard. "Come on dear sister, I think it's time to go. We've wasted enough time."

"Go? Where?" Lena asked as she placed her own glass on her desk. Lex simply led the way out of the office and Lena followed, his bodyguard uncomfortably close behind her.

Lena saw Lex reach out for the black box, deactivating it before he opted to use Lena's private elevator.

Lena stepped inside, although it was more like she was ushered inside by his bodyguard, looking expectantly at Lex.

"Home." he replied.

Lena was about to say something just as she felt her body sway lightly. She felt Lex's bodyguard catch her, her vision starting to blur. She found herself looking at Lex, a question forming in her mind.

Lex smiled, he seemed to have caught on.

"It was in the ice. Dear sister." he answered simply and it made sense. Lex took his drink neat, Lena didn't.

Out of personal preferences. Lex knew that. He knew how Lena was, how she would treat a guest or regard his presence. He managed to move a good few steps ahead and actually thought about it.

And Lena would curse if she could but she lost consciousness then.

Only to wake up in a car parked outside the ruins of the old Luthor mansion in Smallville.

She still felt groggy and walking on heels through the rubble that never got cleared was quite the challenge. Lex was standing outside near where the old fountain that Lena used to love, in his hand was a black lead-lined box.

"Did you really have to drug me?" Lena asked through gritted teeth. "What are we doing here?" she added, her eyes scanning the ruins of her old home.

But Lex chose to ignore the question. "You weren't exactly supposed to wake up now." he commented. "But we're only here for a quick stop."

"What's that?" Lena asked, staring obscurely at the box in his hand.

"What I was working on before it all fell apart. The final piece… for me." Lex simply answered. "Come on now, we have a long way to go. You should get some rest." he went on just as Lena felt a hand on her shoulder coming from behind her to hold her still and a sharp pin-prickly feeling on her neck before once again feeling weak and wobbly, falling into the hands of his bodyguard once more.

"Besides, I have an early day tomorrow. I believe I have an appointment with your _girlfriend_." Lex replied as panic surged into Lena unsure of what he meant.

If he meant Supergirl or Kara, if it meant that he knew or not.

But she couldn't do much as the effect of whatever drug it was that Lex used on her started taking its effect.

Lena quieted her worried heart to give in to the sensation taking over her. They needed her, she knew it. She could feel it. Otherwise why still take her? Why keep her alive?

She had to relax, show that she trusted Lex still.

She had to give in. She couldn't do much to fight it anyways.

Instead, she told herself, she needed to keep her calm, to keep the hope alive.

And to be ready to pick up the fight when she wakes up.

* * *

She listened to J'onn the first time she wanted to reach out to Alex and talk to her just after she saw Kara flying off to save the day. She listened to J'onn when he said to give Alex a moment to breathe.

And so she did, she waited an hour or two. She watched as Kara fly into the base with Lena Luthor's secretary all shaken up before flying off once again. With the DEO in a frenzy, with Winn and J'onn getting right into the thick of it with the possibility that something terrible had happened at L-Corp, Maggie thought she should take the time to talk to Alex.

But Winn caught her. Winn saw Alex enter the training room she's been using heavily lately. And Winn asked to let Alex be for now, let her grieve, let her express her anger, because she might just need a moment to deal with things herself. If she let Kara go, if she asked to be alone and away even from her sister, then they should respect that for now.

And Maggie listened, for some reason, because she had caught a glimpse of the pain in Alex's eyes. Because as much as she wanted to hold her right now, just be there for her, help her get through this. She wanted to pick up the pieces and show her that she was there. She would always be there.

Alex would always have her. Through thick or thin, through the darkest of moments.

But Maggie realized she didn't really have any words to say. She wouldn't know what to say. Despite the tragedies of her own life, of the lives of the people she had once loved and cared about as she witnessed them unfold, Maggie felt a little lost.

So Maggie thought perhaps leaving and gathering her thoughts on the matter would be the best. That if Alex needed someone to talk to now, she would look for her, call for her. Because Maggie didn't want to cross a line, she didn't want to push.

Because how does one even deal with the situation they are now?

Nothing about it was normal.

But she was once again stopped, this time by someone else. This time by Kate, in her Batwoman suit but without her cowl. Kate who just got back from Gotham feeling tired and weary, and getting all caught up with what happened after a brief chat with M'gann.

"She needs you, don't go." Kate simply said, her hand on Maggie's wrist.

"She needs time." Maggie replied. She wasn't even sure why but she could feel herself becoming rather emotional, her voice getting caught up in her throat as she spoke.

Kate pulled her in for a hug, maintaining a stoic face of calm, and Maggie wasn't entirely sure the last time she was ever this near to Kate. They talked, they exchanged some witty banters, but it felt like years had gone by since the last time she held her like this, friend or not. Yet, here she was. She still felt the same, smelled the same, and Maggie relaxed because she didn't even realize that she needed someone to hold her too, at least at that moment.

And despite it never being the same again, Kate was a welcomed friend,.

Kate took in a deep breath and sighed. "You're blaming yourself for all of this too, aren't you?" she asked calmly as she let her go. "Don't. If anything we're all partly to blame. It's too many 'ifs', Mags. If I found Jeremiah that night during my investigations, if Supergirl managed to drag him along with her. If Lena discovered Lillian's plans. If the DEO or J'onn never gave up on him. If one tiny thing was different…"

"If she didn't stay after Myriad. If we never met… I wonder if she had gone on her own and done more. If she would've been successful finding her dad." Maggie then said, admitting the deeply buried thoughts that she had.

"She stayed for Kara, she stayed for you, for J'onn, for everyone else, but above all that, she stayed for herself." Kate finished for her. "Maggie, don't leave. She needs you."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, I don't know, considering I've been in something similar before." Kate replied with a meek smile. "You helped me get through it all."

"This time it's different, Kate."

"No, Mags." Kate replied with a shake of her head. "This time it means so much more. It's gonna hurt, it's going to ache, but we can't let fear and blame and guilt get the best of us. She needed time to be alone, right now she's stewing in her own self-loathing and anger, in her own guilt and hurt, and she's going to fight hard to let her feel this pain and let her carry this burden by herself. Don't let her, just like you didn't let me."

"I failed you, remember?" Maggie scoffed, the buried past resurfacing.

"No, you didn't. You never did. If anything I failed you." Kate replied with a hint of sadness in her tone. She took a deep breath and sighed before speaking up again. "I just needed to take a different path. Mine is in the dark. Alex's is in the light."

Maggie looked like she was about to say something once more but before she could argue back Kate stopped her. "No one knows what the right thing to do is at any given situation. We all just try to get by. And I know you would agree with me that no matter how hard I push people away or fight, no matter how much I scream and yell to be left alone, and even if I don't know it, if my world's falling apart, I'd like to be held in the arms of the person I love."

Maggie nodded, Kate's words sinking in. "And hey, if Alex really needs to spar with someone to get it out of her system, I'm here. I can take the blows." she added.

J'onn found Kate immediately after that and Maggie found her opportunity to slip and go see Alex. The training room was lit rather dimly. Maggie could hear Alex grunts as her fists hit the punching bag. She slowly made her way inside, arms across her chest, unsure what to say or how to open up a conversation. The past few weeks had been an emotional roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. Things happened both rather painstakingly slow and fast at the same time that it was too hard to keep up.

To say they've been through the ringer was an understatement. They're hearts had been through so much more.

And Maggie could see the look on Alex's face yet again, in that moment when she realized what had her sister so shaken to her core. In that moment when her world had all but crumbled and fallen apart. She could only imagine how badly she felt like she had failed, she could only imagine the guilt that could be eating away at Alex. The guilt that Maggie wished she could whisk away.

Because Alex didn't deserve this. She was loving and kind, she was fierce and loyal, and Maggie knew she would give up her life for the people she loved, for her family, in a heartbeat. That she would sacrifice everything to keep them safe.

No, Alex didn't deserve this pain.

Maggie found Alex at the corner of the room just as she groaned. The last punch that landed on the bag had been enough for it to fall from the chains that was holding it up.

Alex collapsed on the floor, breathing hard and Maggie took that as her cue. "Alex." she started to say, walking towards her.

"I'm fine Maggie." Alex replied sounding frustrated.

"No you're not." Maggie replied, stating the obvious but Alex simply shook her head. She watched as Alex stood up, grabbed a towel to dab away the sweat on her body, and grabbed a bottle of water to drink. She watched as Alex tried to fix the bag in its place again, crying out in frustration when she failed in her attempts.

Finally Maggie stepped forward, grabbed Alex's hand and turned her around so that they were facing each other. "Alex, stop." Maggie then said. "Breathe. You need to take a break and just breathe, relax and clear your mind."

"That's what I've been doing!" Alex replied, lashing out. "I've been trying to play this smartly, to not just charge head on. I listened! I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have stayed. I shouldn't have stopped…"

"But Alex you didn't." Maggie interjected. Which was true. Alex might have stayed in National City but she never gave up the search. They did their best in tracking Cadmus down. She worked tirelessly in keeping an eye on their activities, running algorithms in the background to find Jeremiah and find where he was being kept.

Alex did the best she could without letting that mission consume her life.

But Alex refused to listen. "I could've done more. I could've kept on fighting. I thought he was dead, Maggie, and I accepted that. I didn't fight, I didn't ask more questions… I stopped looking for the truth."

And Maggie could feel her own fears taking over, because she's heard this before. And though she fought and fought and fought, she eventually lost that battle then.

Alex started pacing as she went on and on. The 'what ifs' overwhelming her. "I could've done something. This… Westfield, I could've tracked him… Lillian, I… I should've just killed her when I had the chance… I-I could've nipped this in the bud…"

"Alex, you're not a murdered. You're better than that." Maggie argued and still Alex wouldn't stop to listen.

"I should've tried harder. I failed. I failed them all. I promised that I would save him and I didn't. I deserve this. The pain, this guilt, this hurt. I deserve this because I stopped. I wasn't good enough, I was never good enough." Alex yelled in the midst of tears and sobs and anger rising up in her chest.

She was letting go, falling apart.

"No," Maggie finally said, letting herself be heard. She wasn't going to lose Alex in her desolation. "No," she repeated, marching towards Alex, "you don't get to do that to me Danvers. You deserve to be happy, you deserve to live a full life and this… this is part of it. Sometimes life sucks but to the people we love, we don't give up on them, ever."

Alex looked at her, all teary eyed. In her eyes she could see it all, the pain and the conflict and Maggie wished she could just kiss them all away and make Alex forget. But Kate was right, sometimes it's going to hurt, it's going to ache, and she can't let Alex bury it or forget it.

They needed to face it, but face it together. To make it through the storm.

Because it was the only way to get clarity.

The only way to see the rainbow.

And it was the only way they could make it through together. Stronger than before.

Because she can't let Alex carry the burden alone.

"This isn't your fault." Maggie finally said after a few moments of silence. "No one could have seen this coming, no one could have predicted this to be. All we can do now is fight for the people we love, your dad included." she went on. "I know you don't want to give up on him Alex, I don't want you too either. None of your friends or your family think that you should."

"But what if… what if in the end it has to be him or…" Alex reply, her quiet sobs breaking through and Maggie could tell what she wanted to say, what she _couldn't_ say.

"Then we'll find another way. There's always another way. And if the options aren't good, then we'll make our own. You never, ever, give up on someone you love. Even if we have to fight for them against themselves." Maggie said. "We can't give up now Alex, you can't give up now."

Alex completely feel apart after that, the tears coming in waves. She collapsed into Maggie's ready arms and all Maggie could do was pull her close and hold her tight. Make her feel she's not alone.

Because she meant it when she said she was here to help her carry her burden.

Maggie could hear Alex whisper through her sobs how she's failed her father, her mother, her family. How she had let Cadmus tear them apart.

"Oh honey, no you didn't. You're still standing. You're still fighting despite it all." Maggie whispered back, her own tears staining her cheeks, feeling Alex's pain. She took in a shaky breath before she went on, "Don't let Lex's mind games, Cadmus' cruelty, to turn you into something you're not. It's not the end yet, we'll fight this. We'll fight all of this. We'll survive this and save him, together, do you hear me?"

She pulled away very briefly, cradling Alex's face in her hands to brush away the tears. "Alex, you're more than the badass DEO agent whose job is to stop threats like Cadmus. You're Alex Danvers, sister, daughter, friend, girlfriend, scientist and my own little nerd." Maggie said rather affectionately with a gentle smile on her face. "So if you can't fight this as a DEO agent, with your fists and guns and wits in tactics, then we can fight this with everything else that you are. With your heart." she went on, driving home the point and Alex nodded as she listened before Maggie pulled her into her arms once again.

And Maggie believed in every single word she said.

About Alex, about them. And about fighting for the people we love, even against them.

Because this right here was Maggie fighting for Alex, fighting against her fears and her insecurities, fighting against her desolations. This was her fighting for the woman she never expected would come into her life, the woman she fell for hook, line, and sinker. This was Maggie fighting for someone who unwittingly became the best part of her life.

And because Alex was a hero in her own right.

Maggie knew that just like Supergirl, it's her heart that makes her a hero.

And though it's breaking right now, they would heal, they would mend.

Because Maggie would give her whole heart to Alex if she thought it would help.

And Maggie knew, without a doubt, they would come out of this stronger than ever.

Together.

* * *

Alex wasn't sure how long they stayed like that in the training room, her staying in Maggie's arms unmoving. It was like a dam had broken and all the emotions she was holding onto all flowed out. She wasn't sure when but she somehow fell asleep, a strange calm overtaking her.

She didn't hold it back, she let it all out. And Maggie stayed all throughout her rage, her anger, her pain, and her tears. Sometimes she wonders what she's done so right in her life to have Maggie because right now she was who was giving her strength the most, the one who's holding her together in her arms.

Her belief in her, her choosing to stand by her through the worst of storms, it was what was keeping Alex together the most.

To know she's not alone, to know she has someone who will always be with her through the worst of the worst.

And while she could still feel the sting, while she was still partially blaming herself for what happened to her father, she felt better. Like a weight had been lifted.

Because it's not yet over. They could still fight.

And Alex believed they could still save him.

She had to.

She couldn't let her doubts get the best of her.

She wasn't sure what time it was when they stepped out into the command center. Eliza was there talking with J'onn and Kate, Winn was working tirelessly on his computer, communicating with Oracle and James on the streets with M'gann. Mon-El was on standby, awaiting instructions.

If anyone would've told Alex a few months ago that all of this was possible, she would've laughed. Hard. She would've never imagined James becoming a vigilante. She didn't even think it was possible there would be another Martian working alongside the DEO other than J'onn. But more than that, she would've never imagined Mon-El actually taking this role seriously, the role of a hero, because at the start it was all fun and games for him.

But now he looked like he was actually someone who could be a respectable and halfway decent hero.

It was Eliza who saw her first, initially running towards her daughter to wrap her in her arms. Alex let herself relax into the embrace, her mom pulling away giving her a gentle but bittersweet smile. J'onn was next, "Are you sure you're up to what comes next, Alex?" he asked.

Alex nodded. "Like I said earlier. This is _our_ fight. I'm not letting Cadmus get away with any of this."

J'onn gave a nod and stepped aside just as Kate walked towards her. "Ready?" she asked.

"To raise hell against them? Always." Alex said with renewed vigor.

Because that was a promise she knew she would keep. She would make Cadmus pay.

She looked around in search for sister but Kara was nowhere to be found. "What did I miss?" Alex asked noting that something was definitely afoot.

Kara rushed inside just in time, worry gracing the lines of her face. "How goes it?" Mon-El asked.

"Nothing." Kara replied as she clenched her jaws. "I searched the entirety of National City, the highways and interstates, and the dessert nearby. I searched Metropolis, extensively searched Stryker's Island with Kal, I flew to Gotham, to Hub City, Bludhaven. I searched everywhere, especially cities where we found Cadmus labs. Nothing. I don't know where he could have taken her." she frantically went on, a crinkle forming between her brows.

"What's going on?" Alex asked incredibly lost, reaching out to Kara.

"Lex." she replied through gritted teeth.

"What about Luthor?" Alex pressed on.

Kara looked back towards Alex, clear conflict reflected in her eyes. "He took Lena."

Alex nodded slowly, processing what Kara had just said.

Because when it rains its most definitely pours.

And for the love of all that's good in the world, they were facing the worst of hurricanes.

"How long has she been missing?" Alex asked, jumping right into the thick of things.

"A few hours. Things have quieted down on the other cities Intergang has been causing trouble in." Kate then replied.

"Which, why again are they doing this?" Mon-El asked.

"Lex has connections in Intergang, was that not made obvious?" Kate replied sounding a little on edge.

"I get that." Mon-El replied. "But why bother with all of this? Why not just attack us head on or something?"

"United we stand, divided we fall. They're attacking on all sides. They're getting us distracted, emotionally compromised. They're using multiple tactics to take us down and get what they want." Alex replied with a hint of anger in her tone.

"Oh, hang on, found something." Winn then said, gathering everyone's attention, fingers tapping away. "Oracle picked up on a feed of Lex at the old Luthor mansion not to mention she found records of a private charter plane recording a flight from National City to somewhere in Kansas. Apparently Batman thought it would be wise to keep close surveillance of the place. We're tracking the plates on his car. Images are grainy and… I think I've got something more… Another charter plane from Kansas City to somewhere in the outskirts of Metropolis then another grainy image of what seemed to be Lex with a woman in uniform and another one that could be Lena… I have coordinates of the general direction their car was heading but anything about the location…"

"Drops off the radar?" Kate asked. "There's a particular radius where the tracker in Conner's hand was headed that we can't pick up any signal from. The coordinates seem to match." she then noted, walking closer to the giant monitor in their command center.

"Wait, are you saying…" Winn started to say and Kate nodded. "But that's a HUGE piece of land!" Winn exclaimed as Oracle sent the map with the particular radius, the image popping up on screen.

"Yes, but we've been working on eliminating areas. We've sent a few drones towards the place. Some of the keep getting shut down, we've been constantly building ones to send them after each time, luckily we have friends who have a knack at developing technology like this. Now, it updates every hour… and if we upload the info form the latest update…" Kate then said, asking Winn to scoot over to access the files, "…and intersperse it with the last image of Lex's car on the interstate, apply the algorithm to project their destination based on the direction said car is taking…"

"We can narrow down the radius! I mean, we've been working to figure out their location based on how we tracked their movements from National City, but with Metropolis coming from the opposite side… having a different route taken as well, and more decent tech the side of Metropolis we could tap in other than middle of nowhere USA, we can narrow things down."

"Exactly." Kate then said as Winn managed to narrow down the radius on their screen.

"Now that looks like a reasonable piece of land. We can send a team of agents as soon as we're ready." Alex then said. "Bring the fight to Cadmus."

"I think that might be a good idea, but we have to keep people in the city just in case they plan another attack." J'onn then replied.

"Wait, Lex said he wanted to meet me at sunrise at the place where I first saved Lena. That's on the L-Corp helipad and he's halfway across the country." Kara then pointed out. "And the challenge he issued to Superman, their meeting place would be in Smallville by sunset. How does he plan to do all of this? Especially when he intends to meet me."

"Which we discussed, Supergirl, is a trap that you are not allowed to fall into." J'onn then said sternly/

"I wasn't planning to." Kara grumpily replied.

"They've been building him an exosuit, wanna bet it can fly just as fast as you can?" Kate then replied. "Or at least almost just as fast. I saw Supes in Gotham when I dropped into the Batcave, looks like Batman is coming up with counter measures for Superman. If we update them of what's happening, we can resolve the matter faster, have a team head onto Camdus and get this all over with."

"I'm going." Supergirl said resolutely. "I'm not letting them slip under my nose again."

"Then I'm coming with you." Mon-El then said. "I can't let you go alone Kara. Let's face it, You'd need someone with the superpowers who's not impervious to kryptonite."

Alex was just about to say something when Winn alerted them of something beeping on the screen. "Uh, guys, something rather incredibly fast is headed towards our direction."

"Lex in his exosuit?" Maggie asked.

"No, no. Based on the plans we got from the raids, the exosuit is going to be powered by some form of kryptonite and I'm not picking up on any trace of radiation." Winn then said as a realization struck him. He turned to face Alex with a pained expression. "I think it's _him_."

Alex nodded, taking in the information. She felt Kara reach out to give her hand a squeeze. "Then we deal with him first." she heard her say.

"No, Kara. This is part of it, part of whatever terrible plan they have." Alex found herself saying as she turned to look Kara back in her eyes. She could see her sister was a little at a loss with what Alex just said.

"I've got this." Alex then added. "This is my fight, yours is up ahead. I've got this."

"But Alex…" Kara found herself arguing, her feelings and emotions quickly resurfacing. Gone was Supergirl, in a blink of an eye she could see Kara Danvers standing right in front of her. "Alex, he's family. We need to bring him back together." she argued.

Alex smiled weakly, placing her hands on Kara's cheeks as she wiped away the tears that dared to spill. "Kara, listen to me. I know how much you love her. She's family too. Besides, it's not just her you're rescuing. Conner, and that little version of you and Lena… you need to save them because they're family too. I know we're stronger together, but just because we're apart, just because we're miles away, doesn't mean we're not by each other's side. A piece of me lives in you Kara, and a piece of you in me. It's been that way since you came into our lives. A piece of us live inside our friends so we're not alone in this, no matter what. You have to go Kara, go and fight and bring them home. It has to be you just as I know that this battle coming our way, it has to be me who faces it head on."

Alex soon found herself wrapped up in her sister's strong arms. Kara was fighting a sob just as Alex tried to take in deep breaths to keep her cool.

She didn't want Kara to go without her. But she knew she had to let her sister do what she had to do and crush Cadmus once and for all.

As for herself?

She wasn't ready. No.

She was nowhere near ready.

But she knew that what she said was true.

Because it had to be her. She had to be the one to bring Jeremiah home.

Kara slowly let Alex go and nodded. "Badass runs in the family so you go raise them hell." Alex said looking back at Kara.

Kara chuckled. "You bring him home. I know you can Alex. Of all the times you believed in me, I want you to know that I believe in you too."

Alex nodded as her sister finally let her go. Kara looked over to Mon-El and nodded the two making their way towards the balcony. Alex felt a hand on her shoulder as she kept her eyes steady on her sister, giving her a squeeze. She turned to fight Kate standing right behind them.

"I'll keep an eye on those two." she quickly said. "We'll keep in touch through the coms."

"You think you can keep up with them on your bike?" Alex snorted.

"I have a jet." Kate replied with a smirk. "Alex, do take care. Ask Winn about our little gift for you." Kate then said before running towards the balcony to catch up to the two.

Alex stared at her curiously – she doesn't even want to know where the jet was if Kate was running towards the balcony – before turning to look at Winn with the same curios look on her face.

Winn simply grinned back, having heard Kate's comment.

"Trust me, you're going to love this." was all Winn replied before scrambling to his feet, leading the way towards the armory.

After all, there was no time to waste.

* * *

It's been years.

If anyone ever told Clark that saving someone on a bridge after said someone had run him over said bridge would lead to years of anguish and antagonistic dynamics, he would have laughed.

If anyone ever told him that becoming Lex's best friend would one day lead to them being archenemies, he would've thought that that person was crazy.

And yet, here they were.

Clark flew past by the bridge where they first met many years ago. Lex still wasn't there. It wasn't time yet.

It was just really him being all sentimental about the past.

He flew by the old Luthor mansion that was now in rubbles due to Lex's mad experiments and past the places where they spent time together, playing games, hanging out and talking about school, life, and girls.

It's been so long. So long since he saw kindness in the eyes of the man who had tried to kill him multiple times over.

This all had to stop.

They've hurt many people, both of them did. They've dragged so many others into this mess.

It has to end, and end soon.

This rivalry of monster, men, and gods.

Clark found himself descending, his feet landing with a thud on the helipad on top of L-Corp's office building.

Kara wasn't going to be the one facing this fight, this fight that was meant to be his.

He was the one Lex would always be after anyways.

So Clark stood guard on National City, trusted friends keeping an eye out in Metropolis, Kara on her way to charge Cadmus.

It shouldn't be long now. It was two hours before sunrise and Lex liked to be early.

And Clark, he was ready for the end to come.

* * *

They found the facilities rather fast. It wasn't that hard once Kate managed to deactivate the device Cadmus had to camouflage the facilities. It looked like a fortress from the outside, capable to withstand a full on attack.

They were leading the assault. A back up of a handful of DEO agents were somewhat right behind them although their ragtag group's speed and tech seemed to outmatch the DEO's current means of transport.

Kate's jet managed to keep up with Kara's flying and Mon-El's own... well... he wasn't exactly flying if was being honest, what he was doing was more like leaping. Through their coms, Kate was trying to come up with a plan but Kara seemed to have other plans.

Yeah, the place built like a fortress started to crumble like putty in the hands of a very angry Kryptonian.

Kara was literally obliterating the rather extensive base. Kate landed her jet not far from the main building and before she could get out of it, Kara already made a tunnel through the ground, having the decency to not walk through the fortified walls, listening to Kate's reasoning that there could be some kryptonite related trap there.

The underground route proved safe and they soon found themselves inside on some basement level hallway. Guards started rushing their direction but before they could sound the alarm, Kara managed to meld their weapons together and knock them out.

Yeah, someone was really not having it.

Mon-El often annoyed Kara, he knew that she could get annoyed and he found a bit of amusement from it from time to time. What he didn't know was that Kara could get mad. And boy was she mad, she was barely holding anything back.

Kate disappeared for a while, down an opposing hallway, taking care of the guards coming from that direction before she rejoined them.

"Our connection's jammed." she noted to Mon-El as they rushed to follow Kara who was currently leaving a trail of rubble and decimated robotic machines sent to stop them. "I managed to stop the men in charge of the floor from ringing the alarm. That should buy us time, and where on earth is Supergirl?"

"She went that way." Mon-El pointed out as they turned down the hall, singed walls revealing lead underneath it. Mon-El found himself running towards the center of the hall remembering the last time he got really acquainted with lead and he most definitely want to avoid them. He heard Kate chuckle from right behind him. "Don't worry, intergalactic frat boy, I'll make sure that lead won't touch you."

Mon-El simply let out a nervous laugh, he didn't realize he was that painfully obvious with his own fears. Wanting not to be outdone in terms of bravery by the two women he was with, Mon-El took a deep breath and calmed himself. He was a hero now, he had to focus on following Kara and make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid in her own rage against Cadmus. He was sure if he failed in that Alex along with that sexy CEO who was Kara's intimidating girlfriend would never let him hear the end of it. 

The two soon picked up their pace and found Kara pummeling some zombie-alien-cyborg thing right against the wall.

"Damn it, I can't see through anywhere." Kara replied sounding quite vexed. "And I can't hear much of anything. They might have the same device they have at one of the DEO bases that stopped me from using my super-hearing."

"I downloaded plans from the main computer mainframe of the security room in this floor. The prints say they have some kind of lab up ahead on manufacturing gadgets and all. I can head on towards there and deactivate the… she's not going to listen isn't she?" Kate then found herself saying as Kara checked the prints from Kate's device and ran ahead ready to wreak havoc.

"No, I don't think she would. I've never seen her like this." Mon-El replied. "To be honest, I kinda get it but I also kinda don't."

"Have you ever loved someone, Daxamite?" Kate then asked.

"Not that I can think of…" Mon-El honestly replied. "But Winn, Kara, Alex, James, and J'onn, they feel like family. Heck, they feel more like family than the one I had back home. I guess you can say I care about them."

"Close enough." Kate replied as the two ran to catch up to Kara. "So tell me, wouldn't you do anything in your power to protect them? Keep them safe?"

"Yeah, I would." he admitted. "I'm not _that_ emotionally inept. I just… I don't understand, why is she willing to take risky actions like this?"

"Cadmus messed up and threatened to hurt all of Kara's loved ones one way or another and she clearly doesn't like it. She's had enough. Sometimes love does that. It's a maddening thing." he heard Kate say. "Sometimes we just don't think rationally, sometimes we just follow instinct. Kara's not holding back – although I wish she would by a little – because she's done playing by their rules. Ours too."

Mon-El looked thoughtful for a moment. "Have you ever felt a love like that?"

Kate simply smiled and withheld her answer. They reached the room that Kara was now in. Mon-El noted how the room was completely decimated as they entered, most of the guards were already knocked out and was Kara hacking into the mainframe to deactivate the device flowing through behind the walls limiting her powers.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Mon-El asked.

"This thing's basic. Besides I hang out with Winn a lot, do you honestly think I won't pick up a thing or two? I was supposed to join the Science Guild on Krypton, it's not really that hard to learn new things for me." Kara replied and Mon-El simply nodded.

"You know, this is why I prefer to work alone. Have you not heard of a thing called stealth?" he heard Batwoman ask Supergirl as the vigilante examined the damage Kara left in her wake.

"Cadmus doesn't really deserve my patience right now. Stealth can wait. I'm not letting them pull another one over me." Kara replied. "I think I've got it!"

And things all went silent. Kara turned her head, her ears picking up all kinds of things as she closed her eyes and breathed in a sigh of relief.

"She's two floors above us on the east wing." she said relaxed, picking up Lena's heartbeat. "Let's go." Kara then said.

They barely made into the hallway when the alarms started going off. Mon-El figured they might've tripped over an alarm in their haste or something.

"Sometimes stealth is a good thing." Batwoman pointed out as guards started rushing them coming from every direction.

But Mon-El wasn't worried, not for them at least.

Because he could tell, he could see it brighter than a sunny day.

Kara's anger was overwhelming her. Cadmus had crossed a line that no one ever dared cross before. She had had enough.

Because when a ray of sunshine turns into a flare, when the gentle winds turn into a maelstrom, when graphite turns into diamond, and when those who endure have had enough, boy are you in for real trouble, Mon-El knew that for sure now.

It takes them a minute to clear the floor as they all rush upwards.

"You're really in a mood." Mon-El commented picking up his pace and Kara simply grunted back.

"Yes, please forget the human fighting alongside you without superspeed!" Kate called back before Mon-El saw a black thread appear from nowhere. All of a sudden Batwoman came into view as Kate flung herself across the halls using her grappling gun.

"Her heartbeat is picking up. She's anxious. We need to get there fast." Kara said.

"Supergirl, the facility is huge. It's not just Lena who we need to save. There's also the matter that somewhere in these labs is a memory bank that stores your memories along with your cousin's. Memories that could tell Cadmus who _you_ are if they don't even know it yet. Like it or not, we need to come up with a concrete plan and come up with it fast."

Kara stopped for a brief second and even Mon-El had to admit that Kate was right. Cadmus already knew they were there and they were up against time.

"I'm sorry, this was my fault. I was getting impatient."

"No it isn't, they were bound to figure out we're here, one way or another. Although, I do have to admit, we could have done less damage, buy us a bit more of a time." Kate replied. "I'll look for the memory bank in the labs designated for information processing, data analysis, and computational experiments. You and Valor go find Lena. I have a feeling she'll either be close to one of our main targets or she's already in their lab. Based on our intel, they want her to work on Project 14, so it would only make sense."

"Wouldn't it be faster if we all split up?" Mon-El asked.

"You're worried they have kryptonite laced weapons?" Supergirl asked before Kate could even address Mon-El's question.

"They have cameras all around. I've been deactivating as many as I could. I suppose they already know _you_ are here. I would bet on it. Having Valor around might be useful." Kate went on. "Oh and here." she added, grabbing tiny discs from her utility belt. "It's something to help us communicate in case of emergency. We can't talk to each other through our coms but this device should help, or at least I hope it would assuming Cadmus has nothing to jam it with."

"How?" Mon-El asked as he and Kara accepted a device each. "How can we contact each other with this?"

"Echolocation. It emits ultrasonic frequencies that our coms can pick up and give us an idea of the location it's coming from. I've had Winn update the DEO coms so that it acts like my updated one. I'm supposed to be a bat and sonar waves are helpful in tricky situations, especially when you can't see. In this case, we're sending out signals no one else can hear to find each other."

Kara nodded as she accepted the device. "Alright. Let's try to regroup here if possible, if not, once we've secured everyone we can use this device to reach other and make our exit."

"Or pray that that Oracle chic or Winn can break through the jammers and we can communicate with the outside team. Back up is on its way anyways." Mon-El added.

"What are we waiting for then. Let's go!" Supergirl then said before flying through the corridors with Valor right behind her, Batwoman having taken a different path.

And just like that, the race to beat Cadmus was on.

* * *

She woke up a good four or five hours ago, Lena wasn't really sure, with a tray of food and warm cup of coffee right beside the bed she was laying in. Lex had gone and disappeared and for a brief moment, Lena had wondered if she was a prisoner at Cadmus and this was her cell. Her worries have been erased, however as Westfield walked in with Dubbilex right behind him. "I hope you had a pleasant rest during your trip." he had said with a smile on his face.

Lena was hungry but wary of what might be in the food until Westfield picked a slice of the apples set in the fruit bowl and ate one. "I do hope you eat, we have work to do. We're pressed for time as unexpected derailments are happening left and right. _They_ never do know when to quit." Westfield had then gone on. Lena risked a glance at Dubbilex, questioning if the food was indeed safe to eat. The genomorph nodded and Lena grabbed the coffee and took a sip, picking at her plate. She wondered what the coffee was there for, all paired up with a simple wrap and fruits and juice. The juice or water should be enough to just feed someone but she figured it was to ensure that she still wasn't groggy from being all drugged up.

Lena had to endure Westfield's endless speech about the greatness of their cause for a good half hour before he finally led her to the place where she needed to be.

To Project 14.

Westfield stayed for a few minutes making sure that everything she needed was there, catching her up to speed with results and data. For the most part, Project 14 was kept inside a pod similar to Conner's except for a few specific designs like how she was kept suspended in a fluid like substance. Westfield kept calling it a specialized gestation pod, an updated version from what they had before and more to speed with the designs of a Kryptonian birthing chamber, something they got from the information Lex had taken from the Fortress before.

But of course, it wasn't perfect. It was just a cheap imitation, however, still highly advanced compared to the current state of human technology.

Once Westfield left, it was a rush against time. Dubbilex was afraid they were being monitored and they had to communicate through subtle gestures and whispered exchanges as Lena worked on what she intended for Project 14. He had to catch Lena up on current data and results from initial tests that they ran, not to mention actually get to working.

Lex wanted her memories uploaded and Dubbilex followed through with their initial plans. Something _would_ be uploaded, just nothing that Lex wanted.

It was hard to work through the system, ensuring Project 14's stability throughout the process of all the updates they had to work on. Not to mention they had to disconnect her from the pod properly, with the connections monitored by the main computer program. Any suspicious move could alarm Cadmus.

"They're planning something. They plan to make more." Dubbilex had said at one point which had Lena scrambling to whip up a plan. Dubbilex pulled up a security feed in Conner's room from a few days ago and Lena did not like what she saw.

Luckily, she's been tinkering with a program that she's been idly working on back at the DEO. Bad news, she doesn't have the file or a disc with the program.

Good news is it's all in her memory.

Tricky part is how to code it using Cadmus' own mainframe and upload it into the system. She had initially started working on it as a pet project to deactivate most of Cadmus' own mind-controlled creations by uploading the program to their server. And she _was_ planning to make a milder version of it back at her office to aid beat whatever was controlling Jeremiah if it was anything like the programs they've seen before, how well that would work though was the question that Lena didn't really have a solid answer to. With past plans aside, she never thought she'd actually use it the way she was planning now.

At some point the alarm started to go off. Lena was afraid she might have set something off but Dubbilex didn't seem to think it was the case.

"They're here." he said in a low tone.

" _They?"_ Lena asked, whispering.

"I'll finish up here. Your friends, including _her_ other progenitor, have infiltrated Cadmus and their arrival seemed to have alarmed Westfield."

Lena's heart leapt with the little bit of hopeful news before worry soon tried to take over. Kara was here, which could both mean a good thing or a bad thing. But she'd think about that later. There were more pressing things at hand.

After all, she couldn't always be the damsel in distress. She needed to do a bit fighting on her own. "You're reading his mind from out far?" she then asked.

"His main lab is right above us." Dubbilex pointed out. "Westfield wants to activate Conner now. You need to get to him before he does, Lena." he went on, handing Lena a microchip device to transfer the program Lena was working on. "Plug it in to the main computer to upload your programming to the rest. Conner's no longer connected to it so he should be safe. His main computer is the one attached to his pod. Neither Westfield nor Lex know I've been changing Westfield's programming of Conner to keep him away of Cadmus' grasp, mostly because they have been constantly arguing about their rushed projects. The rest that needs to be done is up to you. It's only down the hall. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes. I'll head on to the memory bank in my main lab two doors down, and destroy the files. I haven't had the chance to fully corrupt them."

Dubbilex tried to usher Lena out while she was unwilling to leave Project 14 behind. " _You_ have to wake up Conner. He _knows_ you. He'll trust you. He may not trust me." he argued. "It's the fastest way we can get them out. And believe me Lena, now is the time."

"But do I really have to? To the others…?"

"They're not like Conner, Lena. I tried but I failed. Lex has been busy for three days personally working on them, speeding up every process that needed to be done. They're a little less than perfect compared to Conner, a few delicate steps were skipped, after all, but still. _They_ are dangerous. I'm sorry I couldn't save them."

"But they're still..."

"Every bit of humanity in them was erased by your brother." Dubbilex insisted. "He wanted mindless drones. A spitting image of his most prized possession without any will or memory, just plain programming. And they plan to do it to 14 too. He wanted one perfect version of each, one who would stand with him. He seemed obsessed about the thought of what might've been if Superman had joined his side. But he couldn't risk multiple versions of them that could develop the same thoughts and ideals that went against his." he argued. "We don't have much time, Lena, you have to hurry. If Westfield reaches Conner and realizes that he's been tampered with against Lex's vision and wishes, he's going to activate the rest while reprogramming Conner and we'll lose the fight. Go, I'll complete the upload of the ' _blank slate'_ to Project 14."

Lena simply nodded back in response as she found herself rushing down the hall to reach Conner.

The room Conner was being kept in was quite expansive but the reason behind it was quite obvious once you walk closer. The only light kept on was the one shining above Conner's pod. In his sleep, he looked at peace and Lena couldn't help but wish that that peace would forever be unperturbed.

She didn't waste any time as she rushed towards the computer mainframe and uploaded the ' _phantom plague'_ virus – she might've taken inspiration from what she had learned from Alura – she had been working on with Dubbilex. It was incomplete but she hoped that it was enough to destroy and corrupt the programming uploaded to all the inhabitants of the twenty other pods surrounding Conner. The twenty pods connected to the computer she was working on.

They were his clones. Conner's own imperfect clones. Glancing through the pods' windows she could see distorted faces that nearly looked identical to Conner's if not for a few mutations. Monsters that Lex created in his insatiable search for power. Looking at their current telemetric readings, at least five did not survive the process and were already dead, four were unstable, and three more had erratic readings that would stabilize at some points.

With the virus uploaded, brain wave recordings, data, and vital readings were one by one failing. Lena felt a jolt of guilt as she made her way towards where Conner was, checking his vitals and data. Dubbilex had not lied. He _was_ protecting him from Westfield and Lex.

She busied herself, fighting the feelings of sadness that overtook her as one by one the poor clones were destroyed from the inside out. But what lives would they live if they survived? Could they even still be reprogrammed and saved when their own vitals were failing them? Did she do them a type of mercy or kindness?

Lena wasn't sure.

But it was better than being a mindless slave to Cadmus.

It was better than whatever horrible fate Lex had orchestrated for them.

The sirens were still blaring out loud as Lena rushed to finish the activation sequence for Conner.

But time was quickly running out.

And it would seem that it just did.

"What have you done?" she heard Westfield exclaim as he rushed towards the main computer. His arrival surprised Lena a little, making her feel anxious. She barely noticed the door opening, her focus on getting Conner out after all. As Lena rushed to complete her task, Westfield tried to reverse the effects of the virus before realizing the futility of his actions and rushed to open one of the pods to their right.

Lena went on, ignoring his speech as he caught the poor copy.

Her one goal now was to awaken Conner.

And she's nearly there, just halfway through.

Another one of Conner's clones fell out of the pod and in Westfield's arms as he started to frantically check on each one he could. Lena chanced a glance and was horrified to find that the clone looked even worse for wear than what his face conveyed. His body looked all sorts of wrong in terms of proportion, muscle density, and all.

Lena stepped away from computer to make room for the pod to open. Conner was slowly being disconnected from the pod and the probes attached to him to monitor his well-being were being pulled back inside. "All our hard work…" Westfield went on.

Seventy percent down. Thirty to go.

"You don't really think I would let you get away with this, did you? He's a boy! A teenager! Yes, you gave him life, the ethics of which rather questionable, but he deserves to live a life. Not be treated like a weapon. And _them_ , they deserve more than the atrocities you've done to them." Lena replied.

Westfield let the body go before turning slowly to face Lena, doing his best to control his anger.

"I'm afraid, Ms. Luthor, that whatever your brother wished in terms of our treatment of you no longer applies." he then said.

Lena found herself slowly backing off, looking for any potential item she could use to fend for herself. Next to one of the pods to the left was a surgery table, and on it a scalpel.

Westfield was careful with his movements as he walked towards Lena. "We lost so much. We never should have trusted you. I blame myself, really. I listened to the merits of your brother's arguments. I weighed out your mother's thoughts on how we can use you if you fail to be what we need. But this… it was grave error in our part to severely underestimate what you could have done…"

Lena hit the tray with the back of her hand and quickly grabbed the scalpel as Westfield made an attempt to reach out for what seemed to be a weapon from under his lab coat. She lunged at him, trying to remember what she's learned from anatomy and physiology classes to determine the best area to strike.

It would be bloody, but she needed to buy time for Conner. Luckily, Westfield didn't seem to be aware of what she's done just yet.

Westfield yelped as Lena made contact. She was aiming for somewhere on his chest or abdomen but had opted to hit the hand holding the gun. Westfield dropped his hold of the weapon. But a door slipped open from behind Lena, to the left of the room. Footsteps shuffled towards them as Lena opted to strike again. She could do it, injure him enough to stop him but not kill him.

She managed to land another stab, she just wasn't sure where, before she felt a pair of strong hands grasping her arms tightly as she was hoisted away.

"Take her to Lillian." Westfield seethed as Mercy Graves, Lex's female bodyguard, took her screaming, kicking and yelling.

" _She's_ here. She'll find me. She'll find you. You won't get away with this!" she cried out.

"We'll see about that." Westfield replied as he stood, clutching the wound site on the side of his body as he made his way to Conner's pod.

 _No._ Lena thought to herself. Westfield can't stop the sequence. She can't let him reprogram Conner and halt the progress.

But she was already halfway past the sliding door.

_No, please Conner, wake up._

_Wake up!_

* * *

Kara was easily picking her way through the guards. Getting rather impatient once more, she tried bursting a hole through the floors of the corridors and found that yes, she can indeed go through them. None of the unbreakable metal that composed her cell back when Cadmus had her was incorporated through the flooring and the ceilings.

Mon-El jumped up in time to stop a few flying green bullets aimed towards their direction.

Yeah, things were getting serious.

Kara used her freeze breath to incapacitate the guards on their current floor when her super-hearing picked up on the sound of Lena's screams.

"No, no, no, no, no, no." she rambled on. "Lena!" she called out, flying through the halls to get to where the sound was coming from, Mon-El close behind.

But as soon as she burst through the sliding door, she found that the room was empty of the person she had been looking for. Lena's screaming being abruptly cut. The vibrating noise that blocked her super-hearing was once again activated.

Kara bit her lip and clenched her fist as she walked inside, a step at a time. Her eyes were initially on the man who stood in the middle of the room, clutching his sides. In front of him was a pod holding a teenage boy. There was a small computer attached to the side of his pod while all around him were pods of what looked like disfigured versions of him. On the floor were two of the said clones, the main computer to the right having shown that all their vitals had flat-lined. To the left was a tumbled over surgery tray and somewhere on the floor was a discarded scalpel.

To say Kara was horrified of the experiments before her was an understatement.

And somehow she found she could place a name to the unknown man right in front of her.

Paul Westfield, it could only be him.

Because they were in the room where they were keeping Conner in.

"Where is she?" she asked reaching Westfield in a blink of an eye just as he tried to attempt to reach his gun. She lifted him up by the collar, and Westfield simply smirked, his free arm had dropped a capsule like item that once it hit the ground had rendered Kara's senses, overwhelming her with sound and light.

Kara dropped to her knees in pain before it slowly ebbed away, Westfield taking this chance to escape. She found Mon-El trying to reach her side, the same device having affected him as well.

"What was that?" he asked as soon as their senses were getting back to normal.

"I don't know. But Lena was here." she replied trying to get up.

"How do you – " Mon-El tried to ask but Kara cut him short before he could even finish his question.

" _She was here._ " she insisted, making sure she got her balance back. "We need to…" she started to say, not entirely sure how they would get Conner, Kon-El – Kara preferred his Kryptonian name – out and run after Lena and in which order they should do it or if they should split up and get things done.

But before she could finish that thought, Lena's activation program on Kon had finished, Westfield failing to stop it.

The pod door decompressed and flew open as the teenaged clone of both Kal and Lex almost fell out if not for both Kara and Mon-El were quickly catching him.

He felt warm, and Kara could hear his heart beating through his pulse. Lena was right, she looked a whole lot like Kal. The black suit he wore somehow suited him, the red lining adding a bit of flair.

And the crest of the House of El stood proudly on his chest.

He was family.

Kara knew that.

She could feel it.

"Why do you think Westfield would just abandon him? Do you think he did something?" Kara asked with a worried tone as they settled down on the floor, Kara cradling his head on her lap, Kon stirring awake.

Mon-El shrugged uncertain, both not noticing that one of the pods had been empty to begin with.

But that's a story for another day…

"Hmm… where… what…" Kon started saying as his eyes slowly started fluttering open, blue eyes, same as Kal's and her own, staring back at Kara.

"Shhh… don't worry, we've got you." Kara then said to calm him down as she looked around before turning to Mon-El.

They needed to come up with a plan.

They found Kon.

But they still need to reach Project 14.

And they needed to save Lena who was still in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I might've taken some Smallville background stuff with Lex and Clark… I really liked the show and their past relationship and dynamic there (except the weirdness towards the end of season 4 with Lex just being obsessed, particularly with Lana, and some season 5 stuff), what can I say?
> 
> Also, I forget if I told you guys before but this fic will be followed up by a series of oneshots/minifics (with like 1-3 chapters tops and about 5 of them :D) that wraps things up for a proper epilogue. There's an ending here, of course, and the follow-up's are a little less mini arcs and more just short sequels. Mostly just fluff and sweet stuff, maybe a bit of action but just very little, maybe a crossover. It's to show what happens close to a year after the end of the story. :3 LIKE I SWEAR NO ANGST (I feel like people who've read my other works would expect that... but I'm kinda tired of angst and I'm writing a different highly emotional fic that I need something light... plus this fic is angsty enough as it is for me)
> 
> It will take some time though :P
> 
> UPNEXT: The return of Cyborg Superman! Battles galore! The return of a few friends/familiar faces and maybe a few new ones!(?) And Lillian just being plain evil!


	27. Return of Despair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with work, attended a conference, and had a good break at San Francisco. Anyways, I'm making it up. Hopefully the next chapter will also be up by the end of the week.
> 
> But, for now, here is chapter 27 with Kara reaching Lillian in an unpleasant way (her evilness escalates throughout this chapter and the next), Conner getting his bearings, Mon-El getting a chance to shine (in a good way… he's less of an ass in my fic than in the show…), Lena's great escape part 2, and the return of updated versions of familiar foes!

"Is he… is he okay?" Mon-El asked rather helplessly. Conner, Kon-El, opened his eyes for a brief second before a crinkle formed between his brows and closed it again.

"He is. He's heart's beating, he's breathing fine." Kara commented as she observed Kon try to wake up.

He was warm, and real, and breathing. And Kara could hear his heartbeat, and she could see his chest, the one that bore the crest of the House of El, rise up and down, a steady breath. He was real.

He was alive.

He was Lex's and Kal's clone. The ultimate weapon that Cadmus wanted, the one they wanted to achieve, the one that propelled all of the experiments, all the complicated plots and schemes.

And he was just a teenage boy.

Kon slowly stirred awake. Once more, looking up at Kara with a confused look. "Who… who are you?" he asked confused as he tried to get his bearings, forcing himself up.

Kara was at a loss for words. Where on earth would she even begin?

"She's family." Mon-El replied for Kara, catching her a little of guard. There was a soft look in his eyes when he said it and in ways Kara had to admit that Mon-El's words rung true. Kon was family.

And in some ways, she could tell that Mon's words rung true for himself too. He was like that annoying kid brother to Kara, just like how Winn was to Alex.

If anything, he put into words the exact thoughts she was thinking. Words she was still trying to wrap her head around.

Sometimes reality just seems a little… well… unreal…

"Family?" Kon repeated, confused. "I'm… I'm Superman?"

"No you're not." Mon-El snorted which earned him a glare from Kara.

She decided to take charge of the conversation from there, before things got complicated.

They really don't have time for complicated right then. "You're _Superboy_." Kara replied with a chuckle. It simply felt appropriate.

"Superboy?" Kon replied getting himself fully up after that. He turned to look around the room, his eyes trying to make sense of his surroundings. "What… _Lena…_ " Kon then said, his hands instantly reaching for his temples.

"Are you okay?" Kara then asked. "How do you know about Lena?"

"She's my sister…?" Kon replied.

"And she's your cousin and your sort of sister's girlfriend. Like I said, family." Mon-El then replied, trying to speed up things. "You okay, clone boy?"

"Not helping." Kara then interjected.

"No, she… she was asking me to wake up…" Kon replied, the crinkle between his brows growing deeper as he tried to piece together what Kara assumed was happening right as he was waking up.

Which means that perhaps Kon-El was somewhat conscious and aware of his surroundings, one way or another.

And which meant that he could help them.

That perhaps he could point them to where Lena went.

But then Kon staggered as Kara stood up. Mon-El quickly caught him. "I don't think he's fully awake just yet." he said. "We need to get him to safety."

Kara closed her eyes for a minute before kicking away a nearby surgical tray that ended up hitting a door to the left.

_There… they could have…_

"No. No, you get him out, Mon-El. _You_. Think you can handle that?" Kara replied in a rush as she made her way toward the door. "Get out the same way we got in, okay? Find Batwoman, use that ecolocator thing or something. If you can't, I can take care of her later. Back up's coming but you need to get him out. Now. Away from them, got it? She wanted to wake Kon up to escape. That's why they got her." she went on as she pieced the puzzle together.

"What about you?" Mon-El asked, confused as he tried to support a still disoriented Kon. "Supergirl, I don't think splitting up…"

"I need to find her." Kara replied with conviction, the sense of urgency of finding Lena still ever present.

Mon-El looked conflicted for a moment. "Ugh, Alex is so going to kill me... Fine, go. I've got kid Super here."

"You better not let anything happen to him, Mon-El. I know that little improvisation you did with the Blight. The plan was to distract them not fight them head on to almost getting yourself caught. I swear to Rao, if something happens… Alex will be the least of your worries." Kara then started spouting, game face on.

"I won't, Kara. You can count on that." Mon-El then replied, stupid grin on his face gone.

"Good." Kara said with a nod before she broke the door before her and rushed ahead through the empty halls that stretched seemingly endlessly. She noticed a bit of blood spattered across the halls. She figured it might have something to do with the injured Westfield.

At the very least, she had hoped that the blood was Westfield's.

Kara was a little miffed as she followed the tine specs of blood. The walls of the hallway seemed to be reinforced with lead to a much greater extent than the walls outside and whatever device it was that was stopping her from using her super-hearing was definitely turned on.

Nevertheless, she figured, if she followed where Westfield went, she might be able to reach Lena. At the very least, be able to reach Project 14.

Maybe actually do both?

There was a fork in the road for Kara as the trail blood led towards the right. And while she was very much tempted to curse her luck that her powers were of little to no use to her in tracking Lena down, her normal range of hearing didn't fail her.

And she was sure that she just heard… to the left...

"Put me down or I swear!" Lena's voice echoed through the halls, shrieking.

"Lena!" Kara cried out.

Westfield could wait, they can find him later.

Stop him, stop them.

End this.

 _Together_.

Kara went barreling through a lead-lined door just before crumbling down the floor, screaming in agony.

Because of course it was a trap.

The room glowed green all around, like it was lined with emeralds inside.

Except, of course, they weren't emeralds.

Kara wasn't sure if she's ever been exposed to this much kryptonite all at once. A heavy pain was setting in the pits of her stomach as fire felt like it was burning through her veins, like poison spreading as tiny pins pricked each of her nerve endings constantly.

It was pain, pure shear pain. But Kara didn't care. She would crawl, like she was doing at that moment, just to reach Lena.

Lena who she's been worried about since Lex took her.

Lena who she hasn't stopped thinking about since they parted. Since she went missing – when they said love was maddening, boy were they not kidding.

Lena whose face was lined with worry and pure horror as she fought her way to get to Kara, away from the little army of gray alien-like creatures holding her back, dragging her away to some other place.

"K- Supergirl!" Lena cried out shrieking as a bunch of the alien-looking people in lab coats – genomorphs, if she remembered correctly what Lena had told her before – tried to drag her away. Her arms stretching out as she barely made it to the middle of the room, fingers mere inches away from Kara's own as she tried to reach out to her too.

There were tears in her eyes as four, then five, genomorphs all worked together to build a wall against them, gain some distance...

 _Almost... almost Kara..._ she thought to herself as the word seemed to haunt her watching Lena get taking away, slipping from her reach.

All as Kara was still practically crawling out to her, gritting her teeth to try and fight through the pain the kryptonite stash in the room had brought her.

"Can't give her up?" came Lillian Luthor's mocking tone. All Kara could do was growl. It was all too much but, nevertheless, she turned enough to see the smirk on her face.

It was more of an evil grin really.

"Let her go!" Lena said through gritted teeth as the genomorphs struggled to keep her away from Kara.

"My, my, you really did fall for the Kryptonian, didn't you? My poor girl, that was foolish of you." Lillian said as she walked towards Supergirl, Lex's bodyguard – Mercy Graves – right behind her, a scratch on her cheek.

Probably Lena giving her hell.

"But… I suppose, that worked better than I expected. I thought I might have had to dangle you in front of her somewhere." Lillian went on, sounding like she was already getting bored. "We'll settle this later. Your brother would be disappointed in you, but that's another thing on its own." she then said before addressing the genomorphs. "Take her, and make sure she stays put. I have work to do."

"No!" Lena cried out, and by this point she was being hoisted out and carried out as she frantically tried to fight her way around the genomorphs, managing to actually punch one of them.

"Lena!" Kara cried out as she watched helplessly, both her frustration and the effect of the kryptonite around her was fully taking a toll on her.

"Now, Supergirl, where were we? It's been a while since the last time." Lillian then said as she felt hard and roughish hands grip her, dragging her along as Lillian led the way to a separate chamber. With Lillian's back turned away from her, the shear pain of using her powers while under the influence of rooms filled with green kryptonite and her own moral code were all that was stopping her from burning a hole through Lillian Luthor at that moment.

She would really like to melt her face off now, her anger boiling to a tipping point.

Or maybe chuck her out into space.

But no, she won't let herself become a monster. She'll figure out a way to get out of Lillian's clutches. There had to be a way out.

There was one before, when Jeremiah helped her. And Kara already saw how that ended for him.

She won't let that happen again.

Because Kara swore it to herself, this was the day they put an end to Cadmus.

And she would do everything she could to do just that.

"Now, shall we begin again?" she asked as Kara felt herself being hauled over and strapped onto a table, pure fury lining her features.

She _will_ get out and stop Lillian.

She just needed to endure what was to surely come.

* * *

"They have her." Kate heard, stopping on her tracks as she turned to find a grey-looking alien running right behind her.

Which was weird since she was pretty good at noticing when she was being followed, and very thorough with her work that she was sure that all those that got in her way were currently incapacitated.

So how did the genomorph in the lab coat that was closing in the distance between them even managed to do just that?

"I wasn't following you. There are secret passages between some walls." said the genomorph, reading her mind. "But they have her, Lena. And I believe that they managed to detain Supergirl too. Please, I need your help. I'm afraid of what they might do to either of them. They have _plans,_ Batwoman. I know you care for them, I know you care for Lena."

It took Kate a second or two to connect the dots and figure out why the genomorph was telling her all this as she was still caught up with trying to find the memory bank. "I'm assuming you're Dubbilex. I would appreciate it if you stopped reading my mind now."

Dubbilex nodded, fishing a flash drive from his lab coat. "This contains all of what you're looking for, the memory bank, and a separate file for all other experiments Cadmus has been doing." he said, handing it over to Kate Kane.

"And I should believe you because?" Kate replied. "This just seems too convenient."

"Because if you go through the halls and find the lab room this is kept in you'll find that the mainframe is destroyed. That I've been keeping _them_ safe."

"And Project 14?"

"I can get her, I can get Lena too. I'm fairly certain I can handle the guards keeping her and from there we can get 14 to safety. But Supergirl, she needs your help. Please, time, I'm afraid, is very…" Dubbilex went on before the sound of a gunshot went off.

Dubbilex had one arm raised, staring right behind Kate. As Kate turned she saw an injured Westfield, one hand clutching at his injury, another on his gun.

And of course she saw the bullet that Dubbilex froze in thin air before it dropped to the ground.

"Oh, I really hate scum like you. Always afraid of the fair fight." Kate mumbled.

"And I hate traitors and masks who think they're entitled to be even taken seriously when their prancing around in silly costumes." Westfield replied through gritted teeth.

"Go, gray. Do as you said. I'll take care of him and find Supergirl." Kate replied, handing him the flash drive back. "Give it to Lena. Part of her memories are there and I don't want it in the hands of people who don't deserve to see it. But I swear, one hair misplaced on her head…"

"You're choosing to trust me then?"

"No time for questions gray." Kate replied and Dubbilex nodded. "But considering we've gotten this far with you knowing her secrets…"

"Not so fast!" Westfield yelled only to be thrown a few feet away by Dubbilex before he turned and ran. Westfield's gun got knocked off and Kate was quick to rich for it and disarm it.

"So me and you in a fist fight? A little unfair." Westfield grumbled as he tried to stand up.

"Thought you had some military background, Dr. Westfield?" Kate retorted. "I'd be disappointed to find Lex put up a spineless nobody as the executive director of Project Cadmus."

Westfield smiled. "Power through the pain then?" he replied before taking a knife out of his coat and lunging for an attack that Kate easily blocked.

"While the fight sounds exciting, I would prefer this end quickly." Kate replied. "So give it up, doctor. This won't end the way you want it."

"You sound too cocksure of yourself." Westfield replied as they exchanged blows. Even with his injury, he was still moving well.

Kate's guess is that whoever did this to him nicked him somewhere it hurt – a site of an old injury perhaps? – but that the wound wasn't as serious as it seemed.

"Not cocksure, just know that a fight with no cause is pointless. What's the point of all of this anyways? Spread fear? Really, what's in it for you? Too many people are after world domination already. See, I've faced my share of psychopaths and sociopaths. I like the ones with specific goals, no matter how demented. Spread fear for the sake of exploiting it, steal a priceless jewel, punish humans for mistreating our earth, save their wife, and then there's that guy who just wants to watch the world burn. At least, while I don't agree with them, they have reasons. A plan, something they're after. I hate those with a delusions of grandeur, who always thinks globally, or universally with all these Goddamn alien invasions. I despise those who think they have to follow a religion based on crime. Because then what? What are you really after? You too bored with your own life, too afraid to admit you're unsatisfied with it despite what you have? Really, what is your goal? 'Cause you had a good thing going with your career Dr. Westfield, and yes I did my homework. But then you go and murder your partners on this project. Then you turn to work with Lex Luthor. And for what?"

" _Tsk._ I hate masks like you for being too short-sighted. You can't even see the genius in all of our plans." Westfield replied just as Kate managed to pin him down the floor. "How can we even make you begin to understand?!"

"You're so-called genius is making people suffer. He's ruining lives and exploiting them with your inhumane experiments. It's madness!" she replied with a stern voice before giving out a huff. "I can take you in willingly or by force. But this is ending now."

"Then by force it shall be." Westfield replied before detonating a flash grenade that disoriented Kate.

"This is so far from over, Batwoman. So far from over. You may be able to stop us now. You can stop Cadmus. But you can't stop A.G.E.N.D.A. And you can't stop Project Match. Ours is the victory." she heard him say, his voice echoing in the distance.

And when Kate's vision cleared he was gone, leaving behind a trail of blood. It looked like he headed the same way Dubbilex did.

Kate picked herself up and wasted no time.

She needed to stop him.

And she needed to figure out what the hell was A.G.E.N.D.A. and Project Match, because she definitely did not like the sound of it.

* * *

"Where on earth are we going? We have a situation happening right now." Alex huffed, her frustrations getting the best of her as she marched after Winn who was leading the way. Maggie was close behind, rather curious at what on earth was going on too. "Winn, are you even listening?" Alex demanded, the usual command in her tone taking over.

It was as if not thinking about what she had to face up ahead was letting her think and breathe for a moment, or so Maggie noted. It let her slip into who she was – Agent Danvers, sister, girlfriend, friend, daughter, and hero.

"I may have been working on something on the side, as commissioned by Kate and designed by her too. But come on, she trains you and I don't do anything for you? Would you really think I'd sit at the sidelines? Materials mostly provided by her. But I made it, okay? And I made upgrades from her base designs." Winn rambled on until they walked past the armory, into Winn's little corner of the DEO where Alex had caught him sneaking into whenever he made tweaks to Guardian's suit, and sometimes improved upon Supergirl's as well – and on that note, he should really consider the whole costume design gig for superheroes.

"Honestly, I'm just surprised J'onn let you have your own corner." Maggie then found herself saying. "Or did he do that so that you won't accidentally set other agents on fire or something?"

"Or something." Winn grumbled rather embarrassed as he led them into his little space.

Alex was stunned as she entered the room and truth be told Maggie was too.

It was black.

Of course it was.

The suit, which was in a case in the middle of the room just like how Kate would keep hers, was made to look like your standard issue DEO suit. Except stealthier with the sleek black of the material truly standing out. Maggie could note how similar the material was to what Kate used for herself, except when Winn opened the case and she and Alex both ran their fingers on it, she could tell it was different based on the texture.

"The base material for the suit was, I admit, provided by Kate as I've said. Some kind of new polymer being developed by their company for use as new military uniforms or something. Over the last few weeks, we also managed to stabilize the liquid armor she uses to electrospray a thin fiber coating. It's more durable than the film that forms on her suit and more durable." Winn explained, words flying out of his mouth at a nearly inhuman speed – they were, after all, pressed for time – as he moved around the suit to get it ready for Alex to wear.

All as Alex stood silent, surprised and overwhelmed by everything. Nevertheless, she listened as Winn went on.

And so did Maggie.

"And there's even a sleek and fashionable utility belt with a gun holster." Maggie noted as her eyes landed on the weapon and the spare cartridges already filled with ammo. "And a spare holster on another hip?"

"Later. But yeah. The belt has a GPS tracker built in the buckle. Each capsule-like case contains simple items basic for survival and handy for DEO agents – flash grenades and all that fun-stuff packed in a small package. The knife at the back has two edges. One side sheathed with lead is blue kryptonite, the edges are also dull in case we ever get a Red K Kara situation again or a mind-controlled Super – Kara's suggestion actually, and yes she knew about it, turns out she _can_ keep a secret and be sneaky - but yeah, it's so that we can stop them and not harm them too much. The lead sheath can be used on Daxamites so twisting the base uncovers a protective layer for Mon-El whenever he's around. Meanwhile, the other side is made of Promethium in case we face the likes of Deathstroke again."

"I… I don't know what to say…" Alex found herself saying. "Why did she have you make this?"

"Something about the world needing a 'Super' secret agent. Besides, you're already deathly lethal, might as well look the part in sleek fashion too." Winn replied with a shrug.

"Let's not forget you're knack for diving headlong into danger." Maggie then added. "I'll feel better when you're fully equipped to do all kinds of murder-y or torture-y things to whoever threatens your life. So remind me to thank Kate for this."

Winn nodded and went on. "Now the bulky exosuit you used before was what became tricky to adapt into the suit. See the thin linings on the hemlines? Let's just say their made from metals that you haven't even heard of. The thin green that runs over your chest is sort of your battery pack. Now, don't freak out, like some past DEO weapons, it's kryptonite-based. But we're using the X-kryptonite, the one that gives humans powers, as your source to power-up some neat features, like help you leap tall buildings with a single bound. No breaking through the clouds and the atmosphere though. We might have to thank Cadmus and their evil secret stash for that."

"Wait, how about the effects of the kryptonite on Alex?" Maggie asked concerned. Some files revealed testing with humans and while powers were a plus, side effects, including death from over exposure, was definitely a minus.

"Not to worry. The casing is made of some sort of alien material Kate got form their little league of justice and the back portion of the casing is the same metal infused with lead to prevent exposure. The case on top is also pretty much unbreakable. Ray and Cisco might've lent a hand too when they were here since we had trouble stabilizing the process to make said case. And to that end, two more gifts I may have forgotten to tell Kate, but who cares." Winn went on, going around to open a sleek metal case behind the suit. In it was an earpiece, sleek black like her suit, with a thin eye lens attached to it. The other was a very neat looking gun.

And one look on Alex's face tells Maggie that Alex was very much in love with the gun. She might love it more than the alien gun that she picked up and was now forgotten after it got lost in the aftermath of the initial round of fighting with Cyborg Superman  **Mark II.**

It made her wish she could have one too. If anything, it made Maggie wish she picked up the alien gun Alex dropped when she lost consciousness.

"The lens is a gift from Cisco. It doubles as your com. There's a dial to the side. With it you can activate a wide range of applications. Heat vision, in the sense as tracking the heat signature of things, no blasting things from your eyes. Night-vision, in case you need it. And the last is an auto-tracker. One of the capsules contain tracking devices. You can access a neat compass like map on your lens and stuff. The gun is made by Ray. It's powered by a dwarf star core, same as what the Atom uses and it packs quite a punch."

Alex nodded slowly taking it in.

But they really didn't have that to time or luxury. Truth be told, they were lucky they had enough time for a conversation this long.

The alarms started ringing, everyone needed to get ready to respond to the upcoming threat.

To face the new Cyborg Superman, Alex's father.

"Guess it's time to suit up and be a hero."

"Oh, Alex, you've always been a hero. You're Kara's hero. You're kinda my hero too." Winn quickly replied with sigh. It actually looked like he might cry. And Maggie knew she's seen that look on him before. It was there when Winn heard the news that Kara might die from the Legionnaires.

And it's there now.

Because Winn was afraid of losing someone he loved.

Maggie was too.

Because it's never the high stakes, never the whole world that needed saving that kept any of them always fighting.

Nope, it wasn't some grand and idealistic thought or ideology.

It was the need to protect the people they love. Protect them, keep them safe, at all cost and in every way that mattered.

Maggie was scared to lose Alex, she's scared to lose her in any way in this upcoming fight. But she knew she couldn't pick up the pieces of her broken heart and mend it for her in this case. She had to do it herself, for herself.

And she knew she had to let her go despite facing this fight together.

Winn set the tablet in his hand aside and pulled Alex in a bear hug that surprised even Alex herself. "If anyone can do _this_ , it's you Alex. So you go, bring him back, show Cadmus what you're made of, and end this." Winn said as he let her go with that boyish grin plastered across his face. "And when this is over, beer is on me."

"Oh, I'm taking you up on that offer." Alex replied.

Winn reaffirmed her with a nod before leaving to give Alex space to suit up.

But as soon as Winn was out of sight and Alex could start changing, Maggie pulled her close and kissed her.

Pouring all she felt for Alex in one desperate kiss.

It won't be the last one.

They'll have more and more of it, in happier occasions, during brighter days.

And when they pulled apart and Maggie pressed her forehead against Alex's. "Don't die on me out there Danvers, got it? That's all I ask."

"I won't." Alex replied. "It's a promise. But now it's time we make Cadmus pay." she replied, sounding a little more like the Alex that Maggie knew.

And Maggie nodded, fierce determination in her eyes.

She had to let her go and fight her battles, so she turned around and headed to where James was waiting along with the team ready to back Alex and J'onn.

She had to let her go and win this battle herself.

And while all kinds fear threatened Maggie's heart, she knew Alex was someone who would always keep her word.

She knew that she would always come back to her.

* * *

Downtown National City was in utter chaos when they got there. Cyborg Superman had come to terrorize the city yet again and he came with friends, a few Cadmus agents and 'pet projects' – mostly cyborgs really. It didn't help the DEO or the NCPD that some of the uneasy residents were joining in on the brawl, splitting the citizens on whose side they should take.

Because as idiotic as it sounded, some people saw that Cadmus, through their terrible acts, were still the right cause. That in the end, the end justified the means.

But it most definitely did not.

Not to Alex anyways.

Just how could paying with the lives of humans, experimenting them, hurting and torturing them, could ever be justified by hate and the refusal to understand?

_How?_

A soon as they got there, their teams split up. A huge explosive sound came from atop the L-Corp building and almost immediately some of the DEO agents with them were sent to respond under Agent Vasquez and M'gann. Maggie was with James dealing with the mess downtown when J'onn turned to Alex, a silent conversation going on between them.

For the most part, Cyborg Superman, her dad, kept to the skies and dealt with minimized damage. He was mostly in a supervising role, shooting down a helicopter or two when they tried to approach him.

But seeing J'onn, seeing Alex herself, she supposed, has drawn his attention to the chaos in the streets. He landed with a loud sonic boom right in front of them.

And there he was.

Alex could feel a mixture of dread and fear, of hurt and anger, build up inside her. She still couldn't believe what was right in front of her. He was there, her father was there, but the way he looked at her with no recognition, the way he was sizing up J'onn, it was like he couldn't even recognize either of them.

And at the same time it was like she couldn't recognize her father anymore.

Alex took a deep breath. Was she ready? No, hell no.

But she made a promise, and she would give her all to bring her father home.

Cyborg Superman wasted no time and drew first blood, J'onn's that is. A metallic whip came out of nowhere and lunged towards him, wrapping around J'onn's arm, leaving behind a small gash as he sent some electrical pulse through. Alex tried to gain his attention with her gun, shooting around him but never at him. It worked and he soon turned his attention to Alex, allowing for J'onn to phase through and recover.

She could tell J'onn was having a hard time having to face his own friend too.

Cyborg Superman aimed at her with his own version of heat-vision. Alex jumped out of the way out of instinct although she had to admit the thought that her father would hurt her but Alex powered through, she argued this wasn't her father.

This was what Cadmus turned him into.

Something that she would make Cadmus pay for dearly.

J'onn mostly dealt with him while Alex recovered from that, the two exchanging blows. Alex quickly jumped back into action, snapping back into the present.

The suit, Alex had to admit, was quite amazing. Wearing it made her feel invincible in some sense and it made her wonder if this was what Kara felt whenever she put on her suit or whenever James donned his armor as Guardian. It made her feel empowered somehow as she joined J'onn in trying to incapacitate her father.

She fought back the thoughts in her head, the thoughts that contained memories that were once happy, alongside the memories of loss and dread and what she might have to do. Because she had to fight no matter what to save the person she loved, even from himself.

Because she can't let herself be distracted or emotional.

She had to take him down, bring him in, and stop him from doing harm.

She had to save her father form himself now.

Because he had to still be there, he just had to be. Buried underneath the Cadmus brainwashing or programming that he had to surely endure.

As a fighter, he was good. But he was equipped with many tricks up his sleeve. His robotic hand opened up to reveal a claw that tried to pin down J'onn against a wall. Alex was quick to come to his assistance only to find herself on the receiving end of a chokehold.

J'onn managed to get himself free. "Let her go!" he bellowed and sure enough he quickly tossed Alex aside.

Alex was in a coughing fit while the fight continued on between J'onn and the Cyborg Superman, once again finding herself in the cells of her mind.

Whenever she tried to focus on the fight, it helped her. It made her stop from thinking about everything happening around her.

But whenever J'onn got hurt, whenever the man before her who she once knew was her father, reality would catch up and remind her of the reality of what Cadmus has done.

And it was hard, really hard, but she knew she had to soldier on.

This was the only way.

A scream from J'onn brought her attention back as she saw Cyborg Superman's claws open up to reveal a flame thrower. The flames were taunting J'onn as he tried to keep away. The singed edges of his cape already suggested that he got hit by it already.

Something woke up in Alex then, grabbing a flash grenade to disorient her father. She then started to use the perks of her suit to its full extent, lunging towards him at full force. The strength of the leap took the two of them hurdling through the crowd of agents and cyborgs a few blocks away, past James and Maggie who were handling their own mess.

Cyborg Superman, dug his heels deep and stopped the two of them from travelling down the streets further. His cyborg arm came at her and Alex was ready to block. The two exchanged hits, Alex digging her heels as well as she blocked blow after blow and dealt him with her own. "Please, you have to be somewhere in there!" she yelled in frustration. "Stop this! Stop this now!"

But no response.

"Wake up!" she yelled, landing a neat hook to his chin, causing him to stumble back a little.

And still, nothing but silence.

Upset by being bested, Cyborg Superman used his heat-vision at her, knocking Alex back a little herself, a hidden safety force-field being activated from her suit, absorbing most of the blow.

Clearly Winn forgot to tell her something.

And clearly she needed to thank Winn some more.

When Alex got up, he was gone. But she wasn't going to give up that easily, no. It was time to use some more of her toys.

She played with the dial on her ear piece and quickly tried to trace the heat signature coming from Cyborg Superman, he just fired at her with his heat vision after all, and quickly found him. She lunged through the streets with a bit more force than she thought she'd be able to use and soon found herself closing the distance between them, catching up with ease.

"Hey! We're not yet done!" Alex called back as he halted on his steps and turned over to lunge towards Alex.

Alex braced herself, ready to face the blow. The force-filed activated again, as her hands met his fists to hold him in place and minimize the damage she might've received.

"Damn it! Listen! You're Jeremiah Danvers. You're a scientist!" Alex yelled back as the two of them were back at switching blows. "You're a good husband, a good father, a good friend. Your family, they never stopped looking for you. Your friends, they're waiting for you to come back!" she went on. "Please… Please, I know you're still there, deep down. Fight it, fight back!"

But nothing.

Still nothing.

And the desperation of trying to rich him was clawing at Alex.

J'onn then came flying into the scene to provide Alex some support and almost immediately Cyborg Superman turned his attention on him, as if he was his target from the start.

_Of course, Cadmus… they must want to eliminate the most imminent threats to their plans!_

Alex rushed to help J'onn as once again he and the new Cyborg Superman exchanged blows.

But he was ruthless, and J'onn was like Alex.

J'onn was trying to reach out to him.

Until Alex found herself crashing into a car parked on the side of the street in the chaos of their battle. Her suit managed to absorb much of the damage dealt to her and yet somehow she felt like she couldn't move.

Because it all felt futile. Because it all felt senseless.

She felt hopeless.

Her dad was gone, she couldn't reach him. Not even J'onn can.

And Alex knew she couldn't fight him, not the way she normally could.

She hates it, the feeling. This damaging blow delivered by Cadmus.

Because it was all a back and forth of emotions stirring inside her, paralyzing her form moving.

"Alex!" Maggie called back only to see Cyborg Superman firing away at her, the rest of the DEO agents all incapacitated on the ground. J'onn quickly rushed to save her, placing himself in the line of Cyborg Superman's heat-vision.

And of course their enemy took advantage of that, once again turning up the heat with his little flamethrower trick, seriously injuring J'onn. James came to his aid and as J'onn fell into Alex's arms, he tested his shield against Cyborg Superman's might.

Maggie tried to help him as Alex dragged J'onn to somewhere safe, behind the shelter of a parked minivan. Agent Vasquez and a few more agents were rushing towards them, back up was coming.

"Hang on, J'onn. Please, hang on." she found herself saying.

"We've got this Agent Danvers." Agent Vasquez then said in time for Alex to see Cyborg Superman break through Guardian's shield before tossing him aside.

James found himself landing on top of a different parked car. In the middle of the street, most of the DEO agents with them laid severely injured and unconscious with only Maggie left standing against Cyborg Superman.

Alex could see the truth, he won't take mercy on her either.

And she knew that Maggie won't back down, her gun drawn, raised and ready.

 _This has to stop._ Alex thought to herself.

And she knew she had to do it herself, her own personal emotions aside.

Because she can't let her father hurt the people she loved.

Including himself.

Alex pushed herself forward with a powerful leap, strong enough to send her flying towards the shell of her father and enough to propel them far away before they once again begun exchanging blows. Alex kept pushing herself onwards and upwards, taking full advantage of her suit, to take her father somewhere far away.

This was _her_ fight.

She can't rely on her friends and loved ones to keep pulling her out of her despair, she had to do it herself. They'll keep jumping into harm's way and her father would keep hurting them. And what if he ends up doing something irreparable under his state? What then? What happens when he remembers who he is after it? How could he live with himself? Cadmus would have completely tainted who he is at the core if that happened and Alex can't let that happen.

She had to take him somewhere far away from them, away from people he could hurt other than her. Somehow, Alex still had faith that even when he can't recognize her, he would snap out of it.

She's not going to give up on him now.

Because if there's anyone who could reach him, it would be her.

Only her.

And possibly away from all the world's distraction around them she would be able to do it.

That's why no matter how hard it gets she knew...

...she had to get through this alone.

* * *

Lena was pissed.

She was also very angry and frustrated and worried and desperate among other things. The blaring alarms from all around most definitely did not help ease her nerves and the unbreakable bars surrounding her in her confinement most definitely did not help her predicament.

This couldn't be it. She didn't put up a fight, get dragged kicking and screaming to defy her situation, her mother, her family, all for her to lose everything she held near and dear to her heart.

No, she had to find a way out.

Which was maybe why she was pacing back and forth, learning every inch of her little cell and the little room it was in, glaring up at the genomorphs who were ordered by her mother to keep an eye on her.

The glaring was working though as they were slinking further and further away from her.

Lena huffed for the _nth_ time as another one of the plans she was trying to quickly formulate in her head hit a roadblock and fell apart. But just as she came to a halt, all the genomorphs around her were flung into the air and smashed into the walls.

And as Lena stood amazed, in came Dubbilex strolling in with the key card to set her free.

"You have very interesting friends, Lena." he said, handing her the flash drive with the memory bank. "That's everything. As soon as I uploaded the _blank slate_ program to Project 14 I ran to the lab and dealt with it. All we need is to wake her up and get her out. I might have done one better and corrupted all Westfield's files along the way. There's still a chance to recover them at the mainframe at the center of the lab, and I think he might head there, but last I saw him Batwoman was on his trail."

"Conner?"

"Last I checked, he was awake and under the protection of the hero called Valor." Dubbilex replied as she stepped out. "We need to get Project 14 out of here too. I kept the room locked safe, only to be activated by your code or mine to make sure Westfield or anyone else won't reach her but I can't guarantee that to be true for long, we have to move now Lena."

"I can't." Lena replied, checking if the genomorphs had any weapon on them, taser or whatever. "My mother has Kara, Dubbilex. I need to get to her. Even if we get 14, with Kara in my mother's hands… we can't…"

"But Batwoman said she'll take care of it. Her primary concern is that of your well-being." Dubbilex argued following her around the room.

Lena huffed, her search turned up nothing, but she had to get to Kara now.

Before God knows what her mother does to her.

She heard Dubbilex sigh behind her. "I won't be able to change your mind, would I?"

"Kara needs me now. Her first, and then Project 14. Or you can get 14 out now."

"We cannot let your mother create more clones… we can't let her have any of the two... we can't split up either, it would put you in danger. Let's go then, Lena. We must be swift."

"You're helping me?"

"You'll need my assistance. Besides, I wouldn't want Ms. Kane to make good on her threat. I promised to take care of you. So let's get our Supergirls out of here."

Lena took a deep breath and sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

Kon was still disoriented but as they made their way through the halls – more like stumbled, really – it seemed that with every step they took towards the finish line, Kon was gaining his bearing more and more.

They had a bit of trouble with the guards coming from everywhere. At some point the alarms started ringing and Kon had to scream out in pain as he started hearing _everything_ , having some kind of hypersensitivity, overloading his senses.

"Hey Kon, you're gonna get through this. Just focus on me, 'kay?" Mon-El had said. "Focus on me. Just think that once we're outside you'll get to see Supergirl and Lena, you hear me?"

"Y-yes." Kon had replied through gritted teeth and he seemed to calm down a bit.

Sounds of explosions started coming from different directions after that, and fritzing sound in his ears almost startled him. It sounded like his com might get back to working soon again.

Which Mon-El considered would be a plus.

They made their way, deeper in the labyrinthine base as Mon-El tried his best to navigate their way back to where they made their 'entrance'. A loud crash came from one of the labs they passed through that made him screech to a halt, however, making Kon look at him curiously.

"What's the matter?" Kon asked and just as he did, the door of the lab came flying open and Batwoman followed, sliding out onto the floor, blood dripping from the side of her mouth.

She pushed herself up quickly wiping it clean as she winced from what Mon-El could guess as an injury from whatever the hell she just endured. "I see you've been busy." he commented.

"And I see you've been productive." Kate noted as she turned to look at a confused Kon.

"I remember you... I think… bits and pieces… I didn't like you hanging with Lena…"

"That wouldn't be you, exactly… and really it's complicated, so much has changed. But let's just say you're protective of her." Kate retorted.

"Now, now, Batwoman. Where were we?" Mon-El then heard as a man in a lab gown stepped out of the lab, followed by a whole lot of smoke.

"Westfield." Kon muttered.

"That's the mad scientist guy?" Mon-El asked.

And Kate huffed. "Emphasis on _mad_." she replied.

Mon-El was about to ask what she meant when right behind him came a huge glowing green light. Kon quickly dropped onto his knees, screaming in agony.

"Kryptonite weapon?" Mon-El asked.

"More like _man_ , two-point-o. Guess we knew what happened to his project partner now." Kate replied.

"What do you mean?" Mon-El asked before nearly screeching as he saw the hulking green figure of a man leaking of kryptonite radiation. He looked so much worse than the original version they fought.

The Kryptonite Man in front of them didn't only have kryptonite hands. He had a kryptonite-infused body. Spikes of the material sprouting from his hands and his back like what happened to the first one after mutating. He wore a deep dark reddish violet suit, almost reminiscent of the first one too.

"He's Dr. Abernathy. The guy who worked with Westfield on the first one." Kate replied before she took a deep breath. It felt like they were in a standstill. No, not just that, they were on that weird moment that Mon-El saw in those Western movies he ended up watching when Winn was trying to educate him of earth and its rich histories and cultures, the part where two opponents stare each other down, trying to wait for that moment to strike or when to make the move for a quick draw.

"Listen, Valor." he then heard Kate say as they both stood in front of Kon to protect him. "I've cheated death a few times, and even so I've lived a rather interesting life. So I'm planning to make another wager, what's important is to get Kon to safety, find Kara and Lena, and get out. I can handle this guy."

"Are you insane? You're human!"

"Who stood against the worse of the worse from time to time..." Kate retorted.

"You're not taking him on alone." Mon-El replied just as a flash of blue and red mixed green and chrome smashed from one wall to the next, passing them by and leaving a huge hole on the wall on both their sides. Mon-El stepped back a little, a bit uncomfortable from the exposed lead underneath the walls.

"Was that…" Mon-El was about to ask as he thought he saw Superman and an armored bald man fighting.

"Seems so…" Kate replied.

"Kill them." they then heard Westfield say as he turned to run, unleashing the second Kryptonite Man on them.

Kate was poised and ready to fight, slightly torn on whether she should follow Westfield or stay and fight.

But Kon trumps Westfield right now, and Mon-El could sense Kate's silent decision of fighting, even if it was to her death.

" _You_ go. Follow him. I made a promise to Supergirl, to Kara, to keep Kon safe and I intend to keep it." he then firmly said.

Well, he _did_ want to prove his mettle as a hero right?

Besides, he just needed to keep away from the lead, that's all really. He was, after all, the most suitable candidate to beat the monstrosity in front of him.

He can push past his own fears, he's faced the death-and-immortality-obsessed aliens before.

Besides, he wasn't the same Mon-El as he was before.

He was this new and improved Mon-El. The one who cared for people, because he did care for them, he really did.

And if Kara, if Alex, if Kate Kane could do it, if James and Winn, and Maggie too could, he supposed he could do it as well.

Be selfless for the people he cared about.

Kate seemed to understand him and gave him a nod before not wasting any time in catching up to Westfield.

"Hey Kon, you just, you know, chill back there. I'll handle green, monstrous, and ugly." Mon-El then said as he met the Kryptonite Man head on and managesd to crash him against the wall back in the lab he came from.

Sounds of footsteps came from outside as he and the Kryptonite Man exchanged blows from inside. Mostly, Mon-El docked and avoided his blasts. The second Kryptonite Man kept going at him, attacking with brute strength so Mon-El quickly brandished his cape, wrapping his opponent in it and unclased it from his back, leaving him tangled. This bought him time to check on Kon who was slowly regaining his strength and who was also quickly being surrounded by guards.

Human guards.

"Think you can handle them little Super?" Mon-El called out.

"I'm not little." Kon replied, his irises burning. "And yes."

"Okay, yeah, but remember not to kill them ,okay? Stop them, but be nice." Mon-El called out.

"Got it." Kon replied in time for Mon-El's attention to switch back to Kryptonite Man who flung him out of the lab, full speed ahead. Thankfully, Kon managed to duck to avoid crashing into him as he dealt with the guards swiftly himself.

"Okay, ow, not that hurt." Mon-El said as his back hit the wall.

Kon was back to his knees however, as Kryptonite Man made his way out of the lab.

Only to be hit on the side and sent flying into the same hole that Superman and his foe left in their wake mere minutes ago by a jet black plane crashing from above.

Out of the plane came out the cavalry of Titans led by the familiar face of a grinning Nightwing. "What was that?" he asked as he helped some of his friends out.

"Long story. Listen, I gotta take care of him." Mon-El replied as he nodded towards the direction of a recovering Kon. "Can you go be the cavalry and help Supergirl, Lena, and Batwoman? Things are escalating rather quickly and there's still Project 14…"

"Go, take him now. We passed by DEO jets and copters on the way here, so they'll be outside waiting for you."

"Great, thanks." Mon-El replied, rushing towards Kon as he helped him up and they made their way towards their destination.

They were almost there, the underground route they took to get inside when Kryptonite Man resurfaced from behind them.

And it was truly getting annoying for Mon-El because he just won't stay down, the Cadmus experiment reappearing just a few halls down.

"Okay, you're really starting to piss me off now buddy." Mon-El groaned as he tried to usher Kon to the side. Every time the Cadmus experiment came too close, he was in agony.

This really had to stop now.

Mon-El took a deep breath and braced himself before jumping towards the wall and propelling himself towards the rushing Kryptonite Man.

This was about to become on hell of a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a few fights to build up and continue with 28, most will conclude in 29. The other heroes are just in the background, so don't worry, they won't take much time away from the main heroes. But boy is next chapter going to be long… again… hopefully it would be up faster than this update.
> 
> UPNEXT: More of Lillian's Evilness; Mon-El trying to reach his potential (where his background character development from being Valor – sorry I didn't really focus much on him – comes into play) as a hero; Lena and Kara saving each other!; Westfield's final confrontation with Kate!; And more of Alex's battle with her dad as she scrambles for a plan to save him!
> 
> God, next chapter's gonna be a ride…


	28. Hero's Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena races against the clock to save Supergirl against her mother; James, Maggie, and J'onn are provided with back up in the form of Lucy Lane and the DEO agents under her; Kara tries to soldier on from every kyrptonite-induced pain she's being exposed to; Alex continues her fight against the Mark II fo Cyborg Superman as she tries to figure out a way to save her dad; Kate and Westfield face off one last time; and Mon-El and Kon-El try to subdue the second coming of Kryptonite Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the stress and anxiety inducing ends for the chapter updates there (that said, guess how this chapter will end? :D)... I'm trying to get the updates up as soon as I can but work, life... everything else… Anyways, here's chapter 28 featuring the continuation of a long battle, a whole lot of angsty situations, Lillian Luthor winning the award for the worst mother ever, set-ups for potential one-shot spin-offs, and me writing Mon-El a moment where he truly shines… again… in otherwords, I present to you the Mon-El that we deserved.
> 
> Also, more of Kon!
> 
> I do warn you, torture-y hard stuff this chapter that highlights how evil Lillian is as a villain is rather torture-y…

Dubbilex cleared the way, slamming guards against the walls as the two of them ran towards where Kara was being kept. Lena, for her part, had long kicked her heels off to allow herself to run faster – and not risk twisting her ankles, because seriously, who in their right minds would run with heals on?

The genomorph had managed to track Kara's location somewhere at the heart of the facility, it was where Lillian's personal lab was situated in, or so he said. Lena barely had the chance to explore the base since she was taken into Cadmus, mostly due to the rush of trying to get Project 14 ready and formulating an escape plot that involved activating Conner and all.

Complicated life of a Luthor and all that jazz.

The alarms had been blaring, armed guards were rushing everywhere on high alert. True, they proved no match to Dubbilex who calmly knocked them out, but it definitely made Lena think. One was just how many guards and how many projects were they running in the facility? To have that much security meant they had very many high profile experiments they wanted to protect. Two was who the hell did Westfield find to fund them? A facility as expansive and high tech as the current Cadmus base meant serious cash was flowing in.

And third, of course, was what on earth could her mother possibly want with Kara while everything outside her lab was going all war of the worlds? As if Dubbilex read her mind, he turned to her with a simple sigh and said, "More of _her_. Just like they want more of _him_."

"Is that why she's still keeping me alive?" Lena retorted with utmost disgust. Really, by this time, her mother's cruelty shouldn't even surprise her anymore. They made Kryptonite Man, they made Cyborg Superman. Heck, they turned an actual conscious and alive Jeremiah Danvers into one of their pet projects.

But what was Lillian thinking with this one? _Harvest_ samples from Supergirl until she bleeds dry? Until she's all but an empty vessel? Keep weakening her and sustaining her life just enough that they can keep her locked up?

And what would she then do to Lena herself?

"My mother's truly gone insane." she said out loud as she came to terms with all the darkness that Lillian just seemed to have possessed. Because who would have time to play doctor and carry out experiments when they were under siege? Did she really think they would get away with this? That no cavalry would come after them?

But what if that was it? What if no cavalry came?

They would have to fight for their lives to get out.

"The cavalry _is_ here Lena. But they are low in numbers. We need every strength we can muster to end this now and end this swiftly." Dubbilex then said, again seemingly reading Lena's mind.

Lena was about to ask Dubbilex what he meant when the two of them heard a rather piercing scream. Her heart dropped as the sound reached her ears, but Lena knew, oh she knew, that the voice she heard belonged to no one else but Kara's.

"Now, now, Supergirl, how fast should I let this drip? This is the fastest way I could come up with to get you down for the count and not _damage_ you much. We are pressed for time but I did promise." Lena could hear her mother say through the locked doors of the lab before her. Lena had immediately rushed to it, her end goal in sight as soon as she heard Kara's cries, and banged on it as hard as she could, knowing that her efforts were being actively ignored.

That her own screams and cries to open the door were being drowned by the ongoing commotion surrounding them, by the Godforsaken alarm that just wouldn't stop blaring – it was honestly starting to get on her nerves – and by whatever her mother was currently so engaged in.

"Lena, please stand back." Dubbilex had urged her and Lena obliged realizing only then – while Dubbilex regarded the door and took a deep breath – that tears were steadily streaming down her cheeks.

She was tired. Oh, she was so tired of her grieving, of the anger and hatred she was feeling regarding the vile acts her family kept on committing, of the pain and hurt and the fear of loss gripping her.

And just when she felt like she couldn't feel anymore, her heart clenched at the sight before her as soon as Dubbilex sent the heavy door flying inside her mother's lab hitting two genomorphs assisting her, the whole thing looking almost rather comically, that is, if not for the gravity of their situation.

If not for seeing Kara strapped by kryptonite laced locks by the arms and legs to a surgical table with an I.V. drip of what she could only hope was a _very_ diluted solution of liquid kryptonite shining a sickly lime green before her. If it wasn't then she hoped to whatever God actually existed that Kara would forgive her because she might actually entertain the thought of killing her mother for this.

Especially when her mother had one hand on the dial that controlled the flow of the drip. And really it didn't take much for Lena to figure out that Kara's screaming must've been when the stupid needle – probably also laced with kryptonite – was _shoved_ into her veins.

It was like time froze for the briefest of moments. Kara looked like she was about to pass out. Lillian regarded Lena with an almost amused expression, Mercy Graves standing right behind her while the remaining active and alert genomorphs where stunned by their sudden presence.

For a moment it was like a game of quick draw between the other genomorphs, Lex's stupid bodyguard, and Dubbilex. Thankfully, Dubbilex won that round, incapacitating the genomorphs by telepathically flinging them upwards and forcibly knocking Lillian Luthor against Mercy Graves, who in turn got to know the wall behind her rather intimately.

It cleared the way for Lena to react on instinct and rush towards Kara, immediately removing the needle out of her arm. Kara winced all while Lena apologized, throwing the stupid bag of liquid kryptonite as far away as possible and fumbling with whatever tools she had access on the small table next to her to help her girlfriend out of her cuffs.

Dubbilex was quick to raise his arm, a warning to Lillian who managed to untangle herself from Lex's bodyguard, just in time for Lena to wretch Kara free of her locks. Still near the source of what was making her weak, Kara found herself stumbling ungracefully into Lena's arm as the two fell onto the ground, Lena still holding her protectively.

"I've got you, I've got you." she hushed.

"Oh, how touching." Lillian then muttered rather dryly and Lena looked up at her with eyes flared with anger. Lillian simply scoffed, her hand raised at Graves to signal her to hold back just as Dubbilex focused on moving the surgical table – one that was sadly attached to the floor like they were in some demented medieval lab – forcing him to use much of his own abilities. "I honestly thought I could use you to be Supergirl's true kryptonite, who knew it would be the other way around? In the end it's her who is _yours._ "

"You're wrong." Lena spat out defiantly. "We're not each other's kryptonite. We're each other's strength."

Dubbilex struggled to lift the table off the ground, quickly straining himself. Graves saw her chance and lunged towards them. A struggling Supergirl tore herself away from Lena to stop her, but with the amount of kryptonite still close by, and the fact that Lex's bodyguard was trying to stab her with a kryptonite laced knife, she was still struggling to hold on.

She needed the sun, Lena knew that, and without it her powers would only return slowly.

Which put them in a very precarious situation right then.

Lillian was once again approaching, some sort of device in her hand, a similar looking device to that of the kryptonite smoke bomb that Deathstroke used to subdue Supergirl.

She was going to kill her if she didn't stop with this torment. She would push Supergirl to her limits and end up killing her just the same. And it wouldn't matter much, not if Lillian still manages to get her hands on Project 14.

"Stop this, please! Just stop this madness! It has to end one way or another." Lena tried to plead if only to buy them time. Graves had Supergirl in a tight bind, the knife merely inches form her own neck, Dubbilex still struggling with the weight he had lifted and on finding a place he could set it down that was far away from Supergirl.

Yes, they needed to buy time, formulate a plan to escape this or win this fight and she was betting that her vile adoptive mother would actually buy into it.

Because Lillian couldn't help but gloat after all.

Lillian _did_ stop trying to approach Supergirl and stopped herself from unleashing the gas. She even turned to face Lena, a quirk in her brows, a smile tugging on the corners of her lips showing her amusement.

But then Lillian pocketed the device, Graves held Supergirl down – which really, was making Lena wonder how she was doing this – and passed the knife to Lillian. "And what if I don't?" she then asked, the tip of the knife trailing down Kara's chest, tracing the symbol of the House of El. "You're right, this has to end one way, so why don't I just kill her? She's poisoned my daughter's mind, turned her against me. Against her family. So why don't I set you free of her? And maybe I can have the daughter I always wanted back into my fold. Lena, I think it's about time you saw the true threat her kind possessed."

Lena was stunned speechless at how her mother still thought that any of this insanity was still the right thing when Lillian made an act out of almost plunging the knife directly into Supergirl's heart. Lena jumped just as the tip of the blade stopped over the material of her suit, screaming out her pleas. "Don't hurt her, please just don't hurt her! Don't kill her!"

Lillian watched her with a cool gaze and stopped. The smile on her face was gone as a mask of irritation slowly took form. It was like the two of them were trying to constantly pull at each other to stand with them in their chosen side.

It was a futile battle, or at least it felt like it.

But if Lillian was, with whatever flawed reasoning she had, still trying to pull Lena towards her cause then maybe there really was some truth to what she said.

That she wanted to care for Lena. Some little way.

Demented or not.

"Please." Lena said rather breathlessly, the tears continuously flowing down her cheeks. She stood up, wanting to reach Kara, and maybe wanting to reach whatever little bit of light remained in Lillian's darkened heart and soul. "If what you say is true, and if you really have any bit of love for me, I beg you don't." she went on but Lillian seemed insistent in her desire to kill Supergirl in front of Lena as she raised her hand once more, in an act of attempting to truly plunge the knife into her heart.

"Please, I love her!" Lena cried out.

Loud this time.

No longer afraid of saying it.

Because she would rather say it now then never have the chance to let Kara know.

"Oh darling, it doesn't matter to me that you do. Who could ever love their enemy?"

"You're a monster!" Lena then resorted to saying, realizing that perhaps her mother truly never had a soul to begin with. "You're worse than Lex. You can't do this to her!" she argued.

Lillian seemed to have wanted to say something in response when Kara managed to free herself from Grave. Perhaps it was Lex's stupid bodyguard, letting her defenses against Kara down thinking that they won, perhaps because Dubbilex was keeping the kryptonite away at a bearable distance as he finally pushed himself to fling the damned surgical table laced with kryptonite into some smashed wall from the hall they came from.

But Lena felt herself breathe a little sigh of relief, even for the briefest of moments.

Dubbilex kept Graves engaged, although he looked a little whiter than gray this time, tiring himself by quite a lot. Lillian tried to turn her attention to Lena, threatening to hurt her with a gun she was about to pull out of her lab coat.

But Kara was quick to position herself in front of Lena, grabbing Lillian's arm tight within her grasp. She was still breathing hard, still slightly trembling, but she was holding her ground well.

"If you think I'm going to let you hurt her for one more day, you are sorely mistaken." Kara said, her voice shaking with anger. An anger Lena wasn't quite sure she's heard before. Lillian tried to wrench her hand free but Kara seemed to be getting better, getting stronger.

More and more like her usual Supergirl self.

Except not exactly her Supergirl self and more Kara Zor-El of Krypton if Lena dared to admit.

Not the symbol of hope, not the sun shinny personality. But not the meek and mumbling reporter either.

But a fierce being wanting to protect those she loved.

"I'm not going to threaten to kill you," Kara went on, "because I was raised to believe that even the worst kind of insect like you deserve to live. But I need you to understand, Lillian, that doesn't mean I'll always hold back. I still can break a bone or two if it's convenient, forget the tremendous amount of restraint I exercise by just a little bit." she said, tightening her grip even more to make Lillian drop her gun and make her the slightest bit of uncomfortable.

Still not enough to hurt her much. Lena didn't hear the _crunching_ sound of any bones breaking to say the least.

And Lena kind of felt bad that she wanted to, but then again that wouldn't be _her_ Kara standing in front of her if she did. It would be a twisted version of her tainted by Lillian by pushing her to her limits.

"Do you know how it feels, Lillian?" Kara then asked. "To have your feet barely off the pedal that's on full stop? I've never felt the need to loosen up a bit, let go a little, not until I saw how you've hurt your daughter, _my_ Lena." she went on, her voice getting slightly louder, barely containing her anger. "I can grit my teeth to any pain or torture or messed up thought that enters your mind, but hurt her again, and I swear, that's the last time you'll be able to know a life without pain. I'm not one who makes threats, but when I do, I mean every single word of it." Kara then said before letting her go with a bit of a shove.

"I'd _love_ to say you're under arrest, but I feel like a good number of DEO agents who would be waiting outside when we get out of here will want to have the opportunity to say that. Agent Danvers in particular. Doesn't mean we can't have the pleasure of taking you in."

Graves took that as her cue to try to hit Supergirl again but Dubbilex used whatever last surge of power he had to send her flying through a series of walls, Lex's bodyguard smashing through the concrete and lead that lined most corners of the facility.

"Could've handled that." Kara then said.

"You were weakened, Supergirl, and she was of Amazon descent." Dubbilex replied.

"Well that explains that." Kara then said as she seemed to have realized something.

Lena wanted to say something but Dubbilex cut any reunion speech short then, what with Lillian still in the room. "We need to get to Project 14, but I can sense the dark thoughts Dr. Luthor have. I fear this time we have to split up. I can take her through the path you have entered, Girl of Steel. If I pass by one of your friends I can let them take our mad doctor to your base so I may assist you if need be. But your priority is Project 14. Lena will know how to set her free."

Kara nodded thoughtfully, processing what Dubbilex had just said when Lillian, not wanting to quit, made one last attempt at getting at Kara with the device.

But this time Lena was quick to knock it out of her hand and give her mother a good hard punch to the face.

_And damn did that feel good!_

Lillian found herself losing her balance from the blow and straight into the tight grip of Dubbilex own hands. "Go and be careful Dubbilex. It was good to meet you." Kara then said. "And thank you for keeping Lena safe."

"It was all my pleasure." Dubbilex replied before dragging Lillian out of the lab.

The stupid alarm still kept blaring. Chaos still ensued everywhere, but when Kara turned and Lena found herself once again wrapped within her strong arms, she knew that the world could fall apart and she would still be safe.

She buried her face into Kara's chest and allowed herself a moment to feel the peace wash over her. It wasn't over, the battle rages on, but for now she was home.

And Kara was where she belonged – in Lena's arms – hurt but alive and whole and still the Kara she loves.

* * *

"A-lex…" J'onn gritted as M'gann helped him up. They arrived to the scene just mere moments after Alex forced the fight away from them, disappearing with Cyborg Superman.

Maggie was looking frantically everywhere, trying her best not to yell at Winn through the coms. James couldn't really blame her. One can certainly bet that Alex was off to risking her life again.

Except this one, most of the easily foreseeable outcomes weren't exactly that promising.

Not for Alex.

Neither for her father who seemed to be long gone, trapped in his own mind or perhaps erased from his own memory by Cadmus.

James grunted as he urged himself to get up. His body ached all over despite the additional protection of his suit. Things were slowly calming down as Cyborg Superman disappeared and more and more of the DEO agents arrived.

"What's happening here?" Lucy asked as she got off an armored vehicle with more agents coming to the aid of the city.

It would seem they've had everything handled from their end, mostly watching over Metropolis at the request of Superman.

"We have it mostly handled Agent Lane. But we appreciate the help on getting things back to running smoothly and _peacefully_ in the city." Agent Vasquez then replied.

Lucy gave a nod before turning to James who was still trying to find his ground. "Agent Danvers is still in the middle of a fight with Cyborg Superman. Winn can't pinpoint her location just yet because they keep moving around." James added, remembering the talk Maggie and Winn were having through the coms.

"We _need_ to find her." Maggie urgently followed with. "There should be a GPS tracker in her suit. See if you can access that."

"I can arrange for a helicopter to take us around while trying to locate her." Lucy then provided as a response, immediately getting on top of things.

"We'll find her Maggie, don't worry." James then said.

"I hope we do." Maggie replied with a deep and heavy sigh, a deep crease forming between her brows. "She'll be okay, right?"

James smiled lightly, not that Maggie could see behind his Guardian headpiece. "If there's anything I know, Detective Sawyer, it's that the Danvers sisters are made of entirely something else. Something tougher than anything the universe can throw at us."

* * *

"How are you? I swear to God if my mother…" Lena immediately said as soon as Kara had let her go. Her hands cupped Kara's cheeks, eyes searching for any scrapes, bruises, or signs of bleeding.

Kara immediately cut her off. "I'm fine. I'm fine. How about you? They didn't do anything to you I'll make sure they regret, did they?" Kara asked, still holing Lena in her arms, moving backwards by a little bit to make sure that, indeed, Lena was not harmed.

"Kara, I'm fine." Lena replied sounding both tired and relieved at the same time, her hands making its way to her cheeks as she brought their foreheads together. "I thought… I… well I thought terrible things… I thought I won't get to see you again."

"Ditto." Kara replied, taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, closing her eyes shut, savoring the sensation of feeling Lena's warmth.

She was back in her arms where she belonged.

"But how are you? That was…" Lena was quick to say, pulling away to examine the arm that earlier was equipped with a needle and I.V. drip package for liquid kryptonite. Courtesy of Cadmus of course.

"It didn't get into my system. Lillian wants to savor each of moment of her torture. I guess we can add sadist into the long list of titles she is currently being called." Kara then said. "The exposure's manageable, Kal said that exposure with small amounts over time can help me build a resistance and so we've been incorporating that in my training after the Kryptonite Man incident."

"Kara! What happened to no more secrets?!" Lena exclaimed, hitting her in the arm knowing full well that it would barely hurt.

"I… well… I meant to tell you…" Kara replied, at a loss for words. She really did mean to tell her…

…she may have also been actively avoiding the topic…

…but besides that, everything had just been snowballing on them, there really wasn't the time to talk about it.

Lena huffed and shook her head. "I'm just happy you're still in one piece." Lena the said, resting her head on Kara's shoulder. "But you were still exposed to far too high amounts that I would be happy to know."

"No worries. Winn, in the process of making my sister a suit, made improvements with mine. He sewed in tiny 'Sunny D' packs – or as Winn liked to call them – which sort of give me boost in the solar energy I need during missions in places where he knew I might need them."

"Remind me to hug him when we get out of here. And maybe poach him from the DEO and hire him at L-corp. Give him a day job or something."

Kara chuckled. "I'm sure he'll appreciate the offer. I'm just not sure he'd like to quit his full-time DEO job for two part-time ones."

"Next time though, ask him to incorporate lead in your suit." Lena then replied.

"Ah, but Mon-El..." Kara replied, reminding Lena of the Daxamite's lead allergy before reality started to catch up on them. "We need to go." Kara then said urgently.

Lena nodded, her hands making their way down the side of Kara's and reaching for her hand. "I'll lead the way." she reaffirmed but before she could turn around and do just that, Kara pulled her hands and brought her lips on the fists that had hit Lillian square in the jaw.

"And what was that for?" Lena asked, sounding more and more like herself.

"I heard it, you know?" Kara replied with a huge grin on her face. Lena was looking at her curiously, perhaps scared that Lillian had left permanent damage on her sanity. But Kara simply shook her head, remembering that uncertain day that she flew out of her apartment to face an invading army of immortal aliens.

The whispered words that carried through the wind and reached her heart, giving her the strength to face the day.

The same strength she had found when she had heard those words slip out of Lena's mouth mere minutes ago.

"I love you too, Lena. You just really need to work on your timing." Kara then said, pressing a kiss on Lena's forehead. "And I heard it the first time is what I meant. Back when I left you in my apartment before flying out to face the Blight. I always listen to your heart, Lena."

"Oh." Lena replied blushing before shaking her head. "Well then, now that we've made that clear. We need to get to Project 14." Lena then said and this time Kara didn't stop her from leading the way. "And I hear you left Conner with a man-child?" Lena then asked sounding surprised. "Scratch that, you left him with _the_ ultimate man-child."

"Well, I… It'll be fine. Kon's a teen." Kara reasoned. "I was worried about you and Kon was still disoriented when he was waking up. I figured getting him to safety as soon as possible would be the best decision. I know Mon-El is the least dependable guy out there, but there's some good in him too. Besides, he knows we'll all hunt him down if anything happens to Kon."

"Good. I wanted to make sure that part was clear." Lena then replied with a chuckle as they picked up the pace, running to what seemed to be rubbles everywhere. The hallways were collapsing one by one, the alarms blaring loudly. It was clear that a whole lot of fighting was going on.

"Lena, I'm sorry by the way, you know, for threatening Lillian." Kara then said, trying to remove her focus on everything else that was going on around them and wanting to focus only on Lena and on the mission in front of them. She didn't want her senses and emotions overwhelmed at the moment with what the sight before her indicated.

That out there, her friends could be fighting. It was clear from everything else that the cavalry was already there. That out there, Mon-El and Kon-El were possibly facing adversaries of their own.

But Kara trusted them. So focus she must on finding Project 14.

"Trust me Kara, I'm not holding it against you. If your cousin wants to throw in a threat or two as well, I'm not stopping him. I probably would have done the same thing if she had hurt you." Lena replied honestly.

Kara was about to tell her that she was still the mother she had grown up with when she heard footsteps coming towards them. Kara was quick to use a falling slab of concrete for shield to protect Lena from the bullets that were soon raining down on them. Kara was covering her to make sure that she wouldn't be hit either.

That's when she gasped.

And Lena most definitely noticed.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just, the bullets kinda feel like pellet guns with tiny electric shocks." Kara replied, half-truthfully. "You know, if Lillian thought of this, I really can't stop imagining what other horrors she's capable of whipping out of thin air. And oh, I think they ran out of bullets." she then said, as the sound of firing guns had stopped all of a sudden.

Kara looked up to see a redheaded alien waving at her, someone she's never met before. Behind him was Nightwing, charming smile and all. And of course, the Cadmus guards were all busy drooling on the ground, completely out.

"Thought you needed a hand." Nightwing the said with a shrug.

"We need to stop meeting like this." Kara replied doing her best to sport her best fake smile.

"Starfire, Supergirl. Supergirl, Starfire." Nightwing then said, getting quick intros out of the way. "Anyways, go, we've got the coming guards. Some of them are packing serious anti-Kryptonian weapons."

"Got it." Kara then reply.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lena asked, stepping out of safety.

"Yeah, come on. We have no time to waste." Kara then said, ushering her on, trying to ignore the searing pain coming from what was undoubtedly a kryptonite bullet that had grazed her and was now lodged somewhere near the surface of the skin of her back. They can worry about that later.

As long as Kara can handle it, she can soldier on.

Right now getting to Project 14 was what was more important.

* * *

They crash landed a few times. At an alleyway near Catco, the same one where Kara had disappeared months ago, in the middle of the park, outside the science complex at National City University, and the baywalk area where she had gone with Maggie on their first date.

Each time someone else came out on top.

Each time, it switched between Alex thinking she finally has the upper hand and Cyborg Superman twisting her arm or pining her down.

Alex had to admit, she didn't think her father would be as skillful as he was in combat. The last time she saw him, he was still just her dad – a scientist, a loving husband, and the best father one could hope for. She's almost forgotten that her dad working with the DEO meant that he was more than just a scientist, he was also a trained operative.

It makes one wonder how much of Jeremiah Danvers, DEO agent, was actually there with her, fighting with all he's got and how much of it was the ruthless force of Cyborg Superman.

The last time they crash landed was in the desert just outside National City. A few miles south and they would hit the DEO bunker. For now, that was Alex's main thought. She could get him there, she knew she could, she just needed to contain him somehow or depower him.

There had to be a way,

A way to stop him without eliciting the same effects as those that happened with the cyborg aliens that attacked National City with Kryptonite Man after the invasion of the Blight.

Alex kept at it, quite pleased to know that they were on par when it came to hand to hand combat. It helped that she's been switching up her fighting style by quite a bit, throwing in a few moves she's learned from Kate and Sara into the mix, making it harder for Cyborg Superman to predict her next move.

Because, as it would seem, Cadmus had analyzed the basic fighting patterns of DEO agents. What's more is that Cadmus seemed to have also analyzed J'onn's and Alex's fighting patterns, along with Supergirl's, from all their attacks on the city.

 _It's all starting to make sense now._ Alex thought to herself.

If this had been the ultimate end goal, if all those plans of failed attacks and attempts at getting what they want, making a show to distract people as they managed to attain their goals was actually for something, this would be it. To learn, observe, and be able to predict and control the outcome of the fight that actually mattered the most.

All the fights, sending in Deathstroke the Terminator, the multiple attacks using failed projects… yes, Alex was sure, it was all to obtain data from them.

And in the event that they actually succeeded, then that was just the cherry on top.

That's why Cyborg Superman managed to keep J'onn at bay. And Alex could bet that Cadmus was just milking this all by turning her father into their enemy.

The thoughts made Alex sick to the stomach, distracting her a little and allowing Cyborg Superman to land a clean punch at her. Luckily, Alex managed to activate a smokescreen to distract her father for a while, buying her some time to recover as she toppled over.

The hit landed mostly on the dial of the visor that Cisco invented, switching to dial that Winn must've forgotten to tell her because as she tried to pick herself off the ground, Alex could see through her father.

In the skeletal X-ray vision kind of way.

Something that all of a sudden became the most essential accidental discovery she had made.

Through the lens, Alex could see the internal _damage_ Cadmus had done. She could see the cybernetic implants on some of her father's skeletal structure, but all his organs were intact with his heart most definitely still beating on its own. _So he's definitely not a zombified version of himself, which is good._ Most of the change was mostly in his arms and legs, keeping the rest of his body free of any Cadmus upgrades. His head though, was a different matter.

There was the matter of the upgrade he had to one of his eyes to accommodate his newfound heat-vision ability, hence the metal fittings on his cheeks. Alex could also see two chips implanted in his skull. One was the memory chip – more like mind-control chip, really – that was similar to the fried version they found in Hank Henshaw, the other was more closely similar to the explosive chip they found in the cyborg aliens, the ones that detonated. It was an intricate little piece with a wire that buried itself deep into his cranium and his spine. One wrong move of removing it could mean life or death. Alex has been studying up on how they were placed in the cyborg aliens after their post-Blight attack and while she was getting familiar on it, she wouldn't risk anything endangering her father's life right out in the field. The procedure to remove it had to be done in the lab or in a surgical room.

It was right next to the memory chip too, which made it so much more difficult to deactivate either of them. Alex knew that if she wanted to deactivate the mind-control chip, she had to do it through a non-invasive procedure. She would need to remove the explosive chip first before fully removing the other to ensure that she doesn't trigger the damn thing and end up killing her father.

Good news is, she has found salvation, a way to truly save him and free him from Cadmus.

Bad news is that it's complicated as hell.

_Drat._

_Drat. Drat. Drat._

But Alex didn't really had time to think about it now. The smoke was clearing out and Cyborg Superman was coming at her, she flipped around, landing on her feet and played with the dials once again because the X-ray vision function was screwing with her sight.

When her father came, Alex was ready, letting her mind go blank and focusing on incapacitating Jeremiah for now.

_There has to be a way. There just gotta be one._

"Please, if you're in there, I need your help. I need my dad. I want to save him." Alex then said, still focusing on the fight.

But again, no reply.

Instead, Cyborg Superman managed to catch her leg after she tried to send him flying with a kick and threw her to the side. Alex managed to stop herself from flying too far away, skidding on the mixture of course sand beneath her feet. Cyborg Superman was zooming into her, leaving her with no time to think. On instinct, Alex grabbed a gun, the dwarf star inspired one that Ray had made for her, and aimed at Cyborg Superman.

"Damn it! Break free! Give him back to me!" she yelled back, her frustrations getting the best of her, before firing away with the hopes of hitting him with enough force that he would be subdued.

It worked.

Cyborg Superman found himself crash landing in front of Alex, yelling in pain. What Alex didn't notice is that one of her blast had hit him on the head, and now Jeremiah Danvers was struggling to be free, fighting alongside her daughter.

"Alex, honey?" Jeremiah asked confused before contorting in pain again.

"Dad!" Alex yelped, immediately kneeling to his side as Jeremiah tried to completely break free from his programming.

He looked in pain, his body convulsing as he groaned and growled and cried out, his limbs seemingly clawing out at nothing but air as he struggled. "Alex… listen to me…" he then said through gritted teeth, "Deactivate the chip… use heat… lose consciousness after… but… only way…" he struggled to say before he once again collapsed to the ground, a shock of electricity running through him.

Alex immediately backed away as consciousness settled upon him once more, her father disappearing as Cyborg Superman won out control.

And Alex could feel the dread, the fear, the sadness, and the pain once again. She was so close.

But now she could feel the warmth of hope, pushing her onwards.

There was a way to bring her father home.

And like hell would she fight just to do that.

Judging from the look on Cyborg Superman's face, she most definitely would.

* * *

Somewhere between the lengthy villain monologuing, the exchange of gadgets and weaponry as they tried to outmatch each other, and the endless chasing, Kate had finally cornered Paul Westfield.

The brilliant doctor was kind enough to splurge on the details about who was funding them, about his daughter's own little group that was being funded by the countess that had become one of Lex's many wives. And of course, the very unsettling news of Project Match.

AKA Conner's clone, AKA a mindless version of Superboy, AKA yet another project they need to shut down and fast.

Through Westfield's lengthy monologues – the guy just wouldn't shut up – Kate had found out that said clone had been sent to A.G.E.N.D.A.'s base of operations about two days ago for a few finishing touches.

The good news of it all is that she now has the intel and that connection to their allies were being slowly restored and thus she could touch base with Oracle from time to time.

Time to time being the key words here.

For the most part they were still left disconnected.

Now that's not where the bad news comes in, nope. That would have been easy.

The bad news came in with the knowledge that Westfield is a smart man, he won't easily divulge this information, especially when he didn't let it slip to Lena when he thought she was working with Cadmus. This led Kate to believe that Westfield was planning on one of two things to happen.

One was that he was sure he'd be able to kill Batwoman so it doesn't matter if she knew.

Two was that he was planning to possibly kill everyone in the facility.

Batwoman was banking on option two.

Why, one might ask?

Westfield's injury seemed to be far worse than what it seemed as he continued to bleed. During their scuffle, Kate noticed his uneven breathing and his increasing reliance on whatever crazy invention he could get his hands on just to thwart her. His main tactic was run and go hide and engage only when necessary.

It also didn't help that they ended up at the base's power core room which was at the heart of Cadmus extensive facility, and Westfield was running around the elevated metal bridges to implant a few tiny nanobot-like items to the core reactors all while Kate was trying to pin him down.

Kate was being careful with her batarangs, skipping the use of the explosive ones, because she didn't want to cause an unwanted explosion all of a sudden and jeopardize the mission and everyone else still at the base.

"Bat- are you- ere?" she heard Oracle say through the coms.

"Still a little choppy there." Kate replied, landing on the main bridge from one of the pillars she pulled herself up to in her attempts at avoiding a tiny but lethal electric shock-like bullet designed by the 'good' doctor.

"Better?" Oracle then asked as the lines became more stable.

"Better." Kate whispered as she took a step forward towards Westfield who was edging near the heart of the core. By Kate's estimates, they were a good thirty feet above the cooling system set-up below them and very much near the heart of the core where a giant computer was on. Westfield had been typing up commands earlier when he tried to shoot at her. His little handy weapon had run of bullets then but the knife in his one hand and the detonator in the other had Kate very concerned.

Not to mention the ever so slowly progressing loading screen on the main computer was just making things a whole lot anxiety-inducing.

"We might end but the legacy of our work goes on." he then said. "You won't win, Batwoman. You simply cannot."

"You're really going to kill all of us just because you have the need to 'win'? This isn't a game." Kate argued back as she took her chances and lunged towards the detonator. Westfield was quick though and the two of them were back at it with the hand to hand combat.

"To gain anything, sacrifices are necessary. This is the only way." Westfield replied.

Which, really, just drove home the point of him losing his sanity.

At the very least to Kate.

"Batwoman, I received your info. I don't think his bluffing with the threat. Considering the facility is now trashed and the hopes of saving their current projects there are slim to none, Westfield will protect his interest by blowing you all up. I'm hacking into the system and the command he sent using the core's computer is for a detonator sequence."

 

"Can you stop it?" Kate then replied.

"Trying real hard, but I'm also manipulating a few other systems here. Agent Schott is helping but it seems like a lot is going on everywhere in the base and back at National City. We have a bit of unrest here at Gotham too but the big guy's got it."

"We won't stop!" Westfield then replied thinking she was talking to him.

"You vigilantes and superheroes. You think you're entitled to a right to save the day. That's not how this works." Westfield then went on. "What makes you super anyways? What makes you think you're a cut above the rest that you wear a symbol on your chest and don a cape and cowl. _We_ are the ones who have the best interest of humankind to our heart."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Kate replied mostly annoyed at his self-righteousness.

"I don't honestly know what's worse, a pair of aliens calling themselves 'Super', thinking they're humanity's salvation or the groups of human crime fighters thinking that they can go and help them, make things better they're own way. Humanity's hope is to have it be ruled by the people who are far more superior in intellect and capabilities than the average joe." Westfield reported. "Besides, why are you even helping a Super? Your turf's in Gotham with all of its psychopaths and dirty criminals."

"Okay, I have about enough of your superiority complex, and this is me being kind because you have clearly lost your marbles." Kate then replied, trying to land a punch but Westfield blocked her. "First of all, I also deal with sociopaths and apparently the supernatural. Second, honestly, what do you think you are? Third, haven't you heard, every Super needs a Bat?" she added, taking this as her opportunity to grab the detonator.

"I'm pretty sure Supergirl has two." Oracle then replied, undoubtedly referring to her past gig as Batgirl. "Grab the detonator, Batwoman. It stops immediate detonation of the core room. If that happens we lose you and whoever's in the small radius surrounding the room. It also means that whatever info they have on this A.G.E.N.D.A. and Project Match would be completely wiped out. However, the command sent on the main computer is unstoppable, there seems to be an eternity code kind of program protecting it, any attempt I make would only make the activation of the set of explosives planted everywhere in the base faster. Trying get into the main server now to mine their data and put a delay on it."

"Affirmative." Batwoman replied, as she was able to steal the detonator away from Westfield.

But Westfield wouldn't give up just like that. He countered, knocking the switch out of Kate's hand and sending it flying down the cooling system. Westfield jumped from the edge of the metal bridge to try and reach it, causing himself to tumble over the ledge. Kate quickly jumped after him, grabbing his hand and using her grappling gun to keep them from falling.

"This is over, Batwoman. You lost." Westfield then said, stabbing Kate in the arm with the other hand that held the knife.

The shock of a memory playing in her head, a dreadful memory and a dark realization of what happened on a plane years ago, more than the wound that she had sustained and the pain from injury had caused Kate to let him go. 

Kate stared blankly below her, trying to regain her focus on the present, taking deep breaths to keep her calm.

"Batwoman! Are you okay?" Oracle cried out.

"Yes!" she replied snapping back to reality and finding Westfield's lifeless body below. "Sadly the good doctor isn't." Kate then added before pulling herself up. "How are things on your end?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?" Oracle then replied.

"Good." Batwoman said, bracing herself for the bad.

"We've gained access with all the security feeds and restored the connection between coms pretty much everywhere in the facility, minus a few small sectors. I've also alerted Batman regarding Project Match and directly sending him what I've been mining from the main server. We've been triangulating where they could have sent the project based on drone surveillance recordings from activities coming from the suspected radius of Cadmus we've been monitoring the past few days."

"Okay, and the bad news?" Kate then asked.

"You need to get out of there fast. The command for destruction was sent to four main frames, on in each research wing. I managed to hack into the north wing, where the main security is, but I won't have enough time cracking the code in all of the other wings to delay the explosions from all ends. You have to reach the north wing and make your exit there. That's the same wing where you entered the facility."

"How long do we have?"

"Ten minutes. The explosions would trigger back-up detonation protocols so in case on is deactivated, a fail-safe is activated so that the program proceeds. Yeah, you heard right, Cadmus had back-up plans for back-up plans for everything."

Kate took a deep breath and sighed. "Guess it's time to work overtime." she replied, making a mental game plan of everything she needed to make sure was accomplished within ten minutes, including their escape. "Send word to everyone about the need to immediately evacuate."

"Copy that." Oracle replied before Batwoman was once again pressed for time.

_What is up with villains and self-destructing lairs?_

* * *

Things had, as earthlings would say, escalated quickly. What was a hard battle ahead had quickly turned into a full blown brawl between Mon-El and the second incarnation of the Kryptonite Man. Kon would help him, whenever he could, reminiscent of Kara's old attempts at trying to win the battle with the first one, that is, Kon tried his freeze breath and heat-vision when he found an opening.

But the amount of kryptonite infused in the once Dr. Abernathy was too much to handle for the teenage clone.

"Poor human imitation and not even human. You think you're all gods among men." Kryptonite Man had said.

Which was new, the old one stuck to grunting and roaring and screaming.

Apparently this one could speak.

"Don't listen to him Kon." Mon-El then said getting up from where Kryptonite Man had tossed him minutes before, raising his hands, ready for another fist fight. His nose was bleeding a little after a few rounds they've had before, but Mon-El wasn't giving up.

Nope, no way.

Giving up would let Kara down.

Kara, his supposed enemy, but who was the first who welcomed him into a family. The first one that he ever felt welcome to.

And through Kara he met Alex, tough and smart. Winn, charming, cool, and funny. James, steadfast in his beliefs. J'onn, stern but caring.

He met friends, he found a life.

And for the first time ever, he had genuinely wanted to become better. To deserve these people around him now.

As for Kon? He's just another member of his ever growing family. And he promised he would protect him until he can stand on his own, make sure that Cadmus won't get their hands on him through their cheap and dirty tricks.

So no, he won't give up.

Not now. Not with what they intend to do with Kara and Lena Luthor, and Superman too.

Not when he could see Kon actually hurting. Sure he was an experiment, but Mon-El could see how much Kara cared for him even though she didn't know him.

And the kid was alive. He could see that he cared too. For Kara, and especially for Lena. More than that, he can't let Kon be used as an ultimate weapon to hurt Kara, or Winn, or Alex, or J'onn, or any of the people who had been kind to him. He couldn't bear the thought of it, Cadmus using Kon to kill and obliterate his new found family.

So maybe, that's just what it means to have something you want to protect.

Something you didn't want to lose.

Mon-El lunged at him and the two exchanged blows again, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. Mon-El tried his best to keep away from the slabs of wall crumbling down, exposing little bits of lead.

But the fight was stretching out far more than he ever imagined and Mon-El knew he won't be able to keep this up, not alone. It took a team of heroes and Kara's own selflessness to take him down.

 _Kara's own… the man's made of kryptonite… it's the only way…_ Mon-El thought to himself as he narrowly dodged a punch to his face.

 _But… I can't… the lead… it could, it might…_ he then proceeded to argue with himself, the conflict of his impending choices and decisions weighing him down. He managed to send Kryptonite Man flying down the hall, buying him some time.

But when Kryptonite Man sent a blast towards them, that he nearly almost failed to dodge and that had grazed Kon, weakening him, Mon-El knew he had to make a decision.

And well, he had been called reckless before… maybe this time he could be reckless with a cause?

"Kon, when I say go, use your heat-vision, you hear me?"

"Yes!" Kon replied as he tried to pick himself back sending a few blasts of his heat-vision in retaliation to Kryptonite Man's most recent attack.

"Not now. Conserve your energy. Just brace yourself and be ready." Mon-El then said as he braced himself for Kryptonite Man's oncoming attack.

The new K-Man rushed towards him. Mon-El sped past him, gave every bit of strength he had to lift a sizeable slab of wall that had been torn off from Kryptonite Man's onslaught of attacks. He could already feel a burning sensation from the lead exposed on its side and Mon-El was about to do something rather idiotic on what was undoubtedly a bright and sunny day outside.

He smashed the concrete layers with his knees and rushed towards Kryptonite Man with the now huge slab of lead. "Kon, now!" he yelled through gritted teeth as he could feel his strength siphoning away.

Kon hit the lead slab with his heat-vision, the lead morphing and melting just enough to cover Kryptonite Man's body as the Cadmus experiment yelled in pain.

Mon-El felt himself going into some kind of shock, some of the lead covering his hands, his fingers dripping with black liquid. He felt himself crash into the ground as he watched his adversary fall down. He was still breathing, he could tell.

 _Good job there._ he comforted himself with the thought, but the lead seemed to have been enough to stop him for good.

His vision was blurring, his body aching in pain as the burning, prickling feeling spread across his body.

"Mon-El! What's happening? What's going on?" Kon then asked frantically, Superboy already starting to regain his strength, rushing towards him.

But Mon-El realized he didn't even have the strength to speak, his throat feeling like it was constricting, closing shut, making it harder to breathe.

"Stop!" he heard Kon call out to someone behind them.

"Relax. We're here to help." replied a cool voice sounding like that of a young man Mon-El could remember he met during the Cadmus lab raids, behind him were a few other he could not recognize, their faces a blur to him.

But the young man before him was clear.

He caught a glimpse of a black cloak behind him as the figure came into view. Black cowl, a red suit, and a robin's symbol in the middle of his chest. "I'm afraid we need to get him out of here quickly if we want to save him."

"And why should I trust you?" Kon retorted.

"Because I'm a friend." he replied. "I know Kara though I haven't met Lena. I hear you're name is Conner, am I right? I'm Tim, Tim Drake."

And that was the last thing that Mon-El had heard before the pain had overtaken him completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more insane chapter before the thrilling conclusion! And it won't be cliffhanger-y, I promise!
> 
> Also, every Super needs a Bat… I just had to okay. But we do have Batman and Superman, then there's Kon and Tim (and Dick earlier with the whole Young Justice team), and Jon Kent and Damien Wayne in DC Rebirth is just too cute. In the comics we also have Batgirl and Supergirl being BFFs. In here, I throw in Batwoman too.
> 
> On that note, we don't get much of Kon in actual action here, but like I said, I'll have short (mostly fluff and a bit of adventure) follow ups to this fic and we'll definitely see him in action as Superboy there. But hey, I did introduce him to Tim there in the end ;)
> 
> UPNEXT: Kara meets Project 14!; Lex faces Supergirl!; And Winn gets to use the Legion Ring?!


	29. The Light at the End of the Tunnel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had to give a particular scene to Winn because it would just fit him, like in all his glorious fanboy moments, it's too cute to resist… but before that, epic battle grand finale is nerve-wracking and epic…
> 
> Sorry for breaking down the main fight in essentially three chapters (chapter 26 was more of the build-up to the main events). I wanted to give different POVs to give the sense that everything was happening around them at the same time. So it's like while one scene was happening with some characters, so was another.
> 
> But for now, here is chapter 29 featuring Lex VS Superman! Lex VS Supergirl! Lex VS Lena?! The thrilling conclusion to Alex's fight! Winn and the Legion Ring! Project 14! And a ridiculously adorable talk between two characters (wonder who?) at the end!

Lena swore, the stupid blaring alarms were getting louder and louder by the minute when they left the lab Lillian was holding Kara in.

And all of a sudden it stopped.

Which sent an eerie chill down Lena's spine. Elsewhere, the fighting could still be heard. Cadmus hadn't won, the good guys weren't subdued.

So why the sudden stop?

Lena stopped on her tracks, they were drawing near where Project 14 was being kept. She turned to check on Kara, ask if she had any idea what was going on.

But one look at her and Lena could see that Kara was still suffering, that she was in pain, if the paleness of her skin was anything to go by that is.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lena asked noting Kara's heavy breathing she rushed towards her.

"Peachy." Kara replied before nearly collapsing into Lena's arms.

Lena instinctively wrapped her hands around Kara and felt the warm wetness pooling to the side of her suit. In that instant, everything clicked. Kara gasping when she shielded her from the bullets, the falling slab of concrete she hid in not exactly a good enough cover, Kara's totally not fine reply of her being fine, and what Dick Grayson said about the Cadmus weapons.

Besides, whoever answers 'peachy' when they're actually fine? That's what people who lie about being okay usually say nowadays. Kara in particular, as Lena observed.

Lena huffed and grabbed her girlfriend by the waist, ushering her to a nearby lab. They barely had any time left, they needed to resolve this matter fast.

"We really need to stop saving each other." Kara commented, making light conversation knowing full well that Lena was upset about this. Lena in the meantime asked her to sit on a bed that looked like it was used for surgery. Except it wasn't. Lena wasn't entirely sure what it was being used for, she hadn't been in this lab before, but the cushion looked similar to what Conner had inside his pod.

"I think we can agree that we need to stop getting ourselves in trouble for each other, it's a bad habit." Lena replied sternly. "Especially when we do stupid things and get hurt Kara."

"We were rushing." Kara argued. "Besides, I thought I had it. And speak for yourself, you have a knack for getting yourself deep into trouble."

"That's not an excuse." Lena lectured. "And so do you."

Lena made quick work in removing the kryptonite bullet dislodged somewhere near the side of her back. Thankfully, it wasn't lodged deep and she managed to make a clean job of it.

"I'm a superhero, it's kinda my job." Kara reasoned, getting off of the bed and getting her balance. She was still feeling a bit weak but with the kryptonite out of her system, she looked like she was starting to feel better. "But I do get your point." she added and Lena nodded in response.

Really, she's still too shaken up from everything to deal with more nonsense scenarios that involved losing Kara right now.

"Thank you." Kara then replied looking apologetic. "But we need to get –" she started to say before a loud crash came from one side of the room. Kara quickly placed herself between Lena and whatever went through the wall. As the dust started to clear from the rubble though, it was made clear to Lena that it wasn't much of the 'what' as the 'who'.

Superman, Clark, looked weakened and wounded.

But so did her brother Lex, with bits of his exosuit starting to wear.

Both Kara and Lena braced themselves, the two of them finally being literally caught in the middle of their brawl. Superman was quick to his feet and held his ground as best he could but as soon as Lex's suit powered up once more Superman was down on his knees.

And so was Supergirl.

Because of course Lex's suit was powered by kryptonite. Truth be told, if Lena sees another piece of the green rock after this, it would be far too soon.

If anything, it made her think about infusing Kara's – and sure her cousin's too – suit with lead.

Lena crouched down near Kara, checking if she could still handle this much exposure while she searched the room with anything she could use to shield her from Lex.

And of course Lex noticed.

"Ah, my dear sister, just in time. Care to watch as I make gods bleed?" he asked, the daunting green color radiating from his suit casting sickly glow upon his face. "Or do you care about the gods after all?"

"Stop this, Lex. This isn't you." Lena replied, once again trying to reach her brother, if only to stop this, end this.

If only to give saving Lex one last chance.

He couldn't simply be the monster he had become, there must be some salvation left in him. The kind older brother she had, the one that cared about her, that cared about his friends, Clark Kent included, surely was still somewhere deep inside of him, right?

She's given up on him already before, and the sight before her should only drive the point home even more that she should. But it didn't, no. It just reminded Lena of the stark contrast between the Lex she knew and the Lex that was right in front of her now.

The Lex that still had people believe in him, that still had hope, and the Lex that was lost into the abyss of hate and anger.

Because surely this was what Kara's little tale from her travels all lead up to. The myth about the hero who refused to fight.

But Lex wouldn't listen to her, instead he acted as if he was about to strike Superman and truly end the feud between them once and for all, sealing it with blood.

Clark, however, wasn't going down for the count and neither would Kara just sit and watch her cousin to perish. She was sent here to protect him and protect him she shall.

Even with the cost of her life, Lena feared.

Clark looked like he needed a life line. From the looks of it, Superman had been battling Lex for a good long while and Lex was definitely making it worth his while to make him suffer, using every trick he knew that could affect him and using his weakness the best way he knew how.

It was always about the timing.

Meanwhile, Kara was pushing herself to her limits. Every blow that made Clark fall to his knees, Kara endured. Every punch and kryptonite blast, she returned with equal fervor with the might of her fists, her freeze breath, and her heat-vision.

She watched as the three go at it, a constantly changing cycle on who could win and subdue their opponents. But, Lena feared, that as the fight drew longer, the more terrible the outcome they would get.

Lex has had the upper-hand on Superman, what with being the one better prepared for this fight, using his wits and suit together, and Kara was weakened by everything she's been through that day.

Lena could see, as much as she wouldn't like to admit it, Supergirl really needed to get out and soak in the light of the sun. By the looks of it, so did Superman.

Clark managed to land a decent punch on the suit, breaking a good chunk of the chest plate but inadvertently exposing more of the kryptonite core. Kara was more careful and avoided the exposed green rock, settling for a more tactical approach of hurling something towards Lex to distract him – pieces of the wall connecting to labs with lead happily sitting between the concrete – before landing a good clean blow, breaking a good chunk of his armor and possibly leaving bruises underneath the exosuit.

For a while, it looked like the fight would be over, they would win.

However, things took a turn when Lex recovered from Kara's latest attack and he managed to get Kara pinned, Clark came to the rescue only to find himself knocked off into the side of the lab, a slab of the ceiling falling on top of him. Matters for Superman were only made worse by the injuries he sustained from Lex's kryptonite blasts, leaving Kara left to protect Lena and her cousin.

Kara powered through, angered at seeing Clark in his state. Lex used that to his advantage, her attacks wide and easy to block that Lex managed to toss her aside with little effort.

Kara crashed into some lab equipment and Lena immediately rushed towards her, trying to help her up and shielding her from Lex.

This angered Lex for sure as he rushed to land a killing blow at Supergirl with the kryptonite blade attached to his suit.

But Lena wasn't going to allow for that to happen.

Lex had the blood of many innocent staining his hands already. He was living in his own hell because of it. Lena knew it was too late to save that part of him anymore, the innocence that had been long corrupted by both Lionel's harsh words and actions towards him and the poison that was Lillian's ideals.

But there had to be line somewhere, a line Lex had not crossed. A line that could perhaps signify whatever little humanity he had left in him.

So Lena stood and faced Lex head on, without even blinking. No weapons, no shields, nothing.

"Lena!" Kara cried out as she tried to pick herself up and Lena braced herself for the impact. Finally closing her eyes/

She really wasn't sure what she was doing. She was just hoping that something would snap back into his brother, common sense perhaps, but something that would wake him up from this nightmare.

Because Lex had been her hero, even before she met Kara.

So maybe with this small act she could be both Lex's and Kara's. She could save Kara's life and she could make Lex see the horror of his ways.

And then of course there was that small part of her that wanted to gamble against all odds that perhaps Lex did care for her. Because no matter whatever convoluted and probably horrific reasons why Cadmus had kept her alive this long with all the distrusts and double crossing going on, there was a reason why she was still alive. Lena would like to think that that reason was Lex.

That Lex wanted her alive. "Damn you and your foolishness!" he let out, frustrated, angered, pained. "Why? Why would you choose _their_ side? _Her_ side? I'm your family! The one who was there for you when no one else was! I'm your brother!"

Lena opened her eyes, with a shaky breath, her eyes meeting her brother's. The tip of his blade threateningly close to her chest as he tried to steady his shaking hand.

" _She's_ my family too."

"That's what I thought of him." Lex then answered with all the contempt and hatred he could muster. "Until they turn on you, Lena. Until they don't trust you, they leave you behind and see you for just another Luthor. Until they betray you. You'll give everything to _her_ , to them, and you'll get nothing back in return. _He_ was my brother too, but everything I've done, it's been tainted by the shadows of doubt that come with being _us_."

"You left him no choice Lex. You abandoned him too, just as you felt abandoned by him. The same way you abandoned me when you wouldn't stop."

"He couldn't see my vision! Together, we could've been unstoppable, we could've ushered a new age to mankind!"

"And I don't suppose that murder is part of that? Cheating people, hurting them, playing with their lives? You're not a god, Lex, and neither is Superman. Not even Supergirl. You wanted that power to change the world the way you see fit and you let it entice you until it corrupted you." Lena argued, slowly realizing how it all went wrong.

Lex was alone.

Never enough for Lionel, being shaped by the vision Lillian had of him, and slowly being pulled down by the weight of his mistakes, overshadowed by their name…

…he wanted to prove he was worthy of being a Luthor, he didn't want to lose control of the power that he had, not when he was being compared to Superman, and truth be told he was jealous of what Clark had.

He saw the potential of what Clark could have been, what he could have done, all twisted in the accumulated years of living as a Luthor.

Someone once said that good and evil, it's just a choice. Good people do bad things, likewise, bad people are capable of doing good things too.

Lena was just truly starting to understand that.

It would be foolish to fully think that Lex would just be back to who he was before. No one can, not after everything he's done.

Every single day of our lives we are becoming. And this is what Lex had _become_.

But that doesn't mean he can't change the path he was on.

And perhaps, just perhaps, Lena could sway him a little. Add bit of humanity back.

"People with good intent lose their way too." she then said, remembering the times she could've fallen into the same abyss that Lex had found himself in. "You did." Lena added, almost in a whisper as her fragile heart – the same one that was put through the wringer more times that day than her entire lifetime – felt like it was breaking all over again at the thought of losing Lex. "You died that day you pushed me away, and the day I gave up on you. We've let each other down, Lex, but what else could I do? You spiraled into darkness and maybe… maybe it was circumstance, maybe it was already there, but if there's a world out there where you stepped up as the hero, I think that in any world there is hope for you." Lena argued.

"There isn't." Lex replied coolly. "I just want to know why you chose them and not me. You've made love and friendship, and whatever else those so-called heroes hold near and dear, make you blind and weak. This is my path, Lena. Clearly you've chosen yours."

Lex raised his arms again, looking like he was about to thrust the blade this time for real but just as quickly as he did, he brought his hand down and de-powered his suit. He dropped the gauntlets that the blade was attached to, before proceeding to step out of it. "One day, you'll realize that love is never enough." he then said solemnly, his eyes cast down. He took a deep sigh before looking up at Lena. "And you can relax now, I'm not suicidal. I know when I'm beaten." he then said, making Lena realize that it wasn't her that he was looking at.

He was looking straight at Kara.

And when Lena turned she realized why.

Because Kara was hovering instead of where she was pinned down, her eyes glowing a bright red, irises burning, ready to strike at any time. Her fists were clenched tightly and her jaws set.

Truly like a goddess spurned by man's actions. If Lena didn't know Kara bawls like a baby when it comes to the melancholic parts of Disney movies, she would be completely in awe.

Well, she was a little.

Alright, by quite a lot but still.

Lex then scoffed. "You really are more powerful than him, huh? Powering through the painthe proximity of my suit caused thanks to the kryptonite core. Your cousin could barely stand, took him all he got to get me out of National City and away from civilians. He can't even stand from where he's pinned and I'm further away from him than I am to you. You look worse for wear and you power through. If I push now, well, I don't think any of us would be left alive and I'd hate that even in death you'd achieve your victory."

"You dare threaten to hurt Lena again…" Kara then said, her tone serious, her voice sounding rather regal, eyes still glowing with the blast of her heat-vision she's holding back.

"Don't be mistaken, Supergirl." Lex then replied. " _I'm_ the one who makes threats. Break her heart and will get to see how this tragic tale plays out. I've got nothing to lose, Supergirl, not even my humanity, and a man who has nothing to lose is the most dangerous kind."

"That's a lie and you know it." Superman then said. With the suit de-powered and the kryptonite shielded away, he regained enough of his strength to set himself free. Lena watched as he walked towards Lex a step at a time all while Kara landed close to Lena, Supergirl immediately reaching for her hand and moving forward so that if Lex dared to pull any tricks Kara could protect her.

 _We really need to stop trying to save each other._ Lena though to herself just as Clark reached Lex, the two staring at each other.

"I mean what I say, _Superman_." Lex replied, putting as much venom as he can as he said the name.

"Well, you did. But like it or not, you do have a bit of humanity left and I was wrong to condemn you for not believing there was. I see it now, with her." Superman replied, nodding at Lena's direction. "I see it. Why you threatened to kill her. You wanted her on your side, so desperately so that if you can't have her on your side, you'd force her. Isolate her until it was only you who was left. Because at the end of the day you needed her. You needed her to need you too and you couldn't have Lena be disappointed in you and not see your way. And if she's not by your side, you'd rather she be killed, by anyone else other than you. Detach yourself from that reality because you know you'll never be able to live with yourself if you do it, if you pulled the trigger, sealed the deal. That's why you stopped yourself earlier from killing her. She's your humanity Lex. And that piece of you that belongs to Lena is strong enough to fight against the darkest thoughts you can come up with to try and free yourself of it."

Lex looked thoughtful for a moment, as if clarity was breaking through his madness for once in a very long time. Lena couldn't help but wonder how long this would last but she took comfort in the thought that at the end of the day, no matter how little, Lex did care for her.

That he didn't kill her.

And most importantly, that Lex didn't kill Kara.

Lex turned to look at her and Kara before turning back to address Superman. He shook his head, "Where did we go wrong, Clark?" he asked.

"I wish I knew." Superman then replied.

"For my part, I always resented that you never trusted me, not much at all." he replied. "You gave in to how the world saw me." Lex added, sounding rather disappointed as he closed the distance between him and Superman, arms brought close together in the form of his surrender. And yet, even in defeat, Lex carried about him the air of arrogance that was always a part of him. Clark, for his part, broke a piece of metal from frames of the bed inside the lab and twisted it around his wrists.

"You became obsessed with the truth until it tore you apart." Clark then said as he fastened the metal tightly. "You tried hurting the people I loved just for it. You tried killing me multiple times."

"I wanted to prove to you that you're not what you thought you were, a god among men. And you? You shoved me aside and abandoned me. You didn't trust me Clark and I thought you wanted it all, the glory to yourself as the hero."

"That wasn't it, Lex. You're methods were wrong but you're genius was there. I saw the signs, Lex. Many worlds had been destroyed because of following the same path you set out for yourself."

"Just face it Clark, you didn't try hard enough to save me." Lex then replied. "Maybe you could have trusted me. Maybe we could have still been friends. If only you dared enough just like your cousin."

"She didn't dare. She loves her. I think that made it easier" Clark then replied, looking back at them.

Lex laughed and shook his head. "Oh, you still have much to learn." he commented. "If you ask me, it made things harder. I'm not asking you to _love_ me, but they had faith in each other. They both cared so much that they both wanted to die for each other. It's so sickening." Lex then scoffed.

"This isn't over Clark, but for now, I'm giving up. Understand this isn't your win, it's your cousin's and my sister's."

"Understood." Clark then said as he secured Lex. "But I hope you know that this time around I'm not going to give up on saving you. We've both done so many things we could never take back, but I think my greatest victory would be bringing my worst enemy to come live in the light. Not the battles I'll be victorious in."

"There's no redemption for fools." Lex commented.

"I think you still have hope." Clark replied.

"I would never call myself a fool, _Superman_." Lex pointed out, making his insult clear.

"By the way, the sudden unsettling silence from the alarms, I'm guessing either Westfield or my mother activated the self-destruct protocol on the base. You raided too many labs for their liking."

"Wait, what do you mean self-destruct?" Kara asked, ready to strike him. Judging from how she reacted, it looked like she was about to strike Lex for duping them.

"You have five minutes." Lex replied. "And _Superman_ , understand, next time I won't lose to you."

Lena sighed. It clicked. Lex knew if he pushed further he would lose and he hated to lose. He might not even have the time to escape in time.

But he told _them_.

He still told them of what he knew about the self-destruct system, so maybe that was all the hope she needed.

"Go. I'll take him back to Metropolis." Clark then said.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kara asked. "What if this is a ploy?"

"There's a fleet of heroic vigilante teams outside and an army of DEO agents going to be here soon." Lex pointed. "I live to fight another day Supergirl. Besides, I think we've proven that no prison can hold me."

"Oh, I think I can think up of one." Kara replied.

"Alright, love, I think we can agree that arguing with my brother now is buying him time to kill us all in an explosion." Lena then pointed out.

"Sorry, just worried about my cousin."

Clark smiled at her proudly, "Don't worry about me. From what you showed, I'll need to earn that _Super_ part of my name one way or another." he replied.

Kara nodded and within seconds Superman and Lex cleared through the rubble and flew off. Lena turned to look at Kara, an unspoken agreement exchanged between them as Kara lifted her in her arms and flew down the halls.

"Which way again?" Kara asked with urgency, all business now that they know they're on limited time.

"Down the hall, two doors down after taking a right." Lena then replied.

It was time to take their progeny home.

* * *

Alex was in a pickle. That much was clear. She knew how to disarm the chip, she even had a plan.

But she needed to buy time to get what she needed ready, time that she just couldn't afford.

Alex kept up with her father as best she could, she matched every decent punch and blow that he dealt and blocked with her own, but the way he was going at it suggested he was desperate to get her down for the count fast.

Every slipping moment, every single second that passed by, she had to make it count.

Alex needed a lens. She needed it to focus the blast from her dwarf star gun to the tiny spot where the chip was. If she missed, she'll end up hitting the detonator chip and that's it, her father would be dead.

And she would have killed him.

Alex knew she could use the lens from her visor but only after she manages to mark the spot where she should hit. She still needed the X-ray vision mode to do just that. She didn't want to risk trying her plan without marking her target.

So challenge one was really to get close enough to do just that. Mark the spot.

Challenge two was to either get him down for long enough or get herself far away enough for him to fix the lens on her gun, make it ready to fire.

Then there was her other dilemma. The dilemma of how strong she should set the blast to be. She needed heat to deactivate the chip, but just how much heat should she use before she triggers the explosion.

Alex knew, she had one shot.

One shot and that was it.

If she missed, if she makes a mistake, then that would be the end of it.

And she most definitely did not need a reminder of what would happen if she failed, she knew what was at stake, she didn't need to dwell on it now.

What she needed was to focus on what was right in front of her.

Alex did her best to keep up. Every now and then she would be able to land a decent hit that would send Cyborg Superman far enough for her to meddle with the settings on the gun to get it ready for use after the addition of the lens. She felt bad for ruining the piece of tech that Cisco made for her, but oh well. Desperate times and all.

Besides, Winn could fix it later, or so Alex hoped.

After one of those said events, Alex had it set. She turned the X-ray vision function on her visor on just in time for her opponent to pick himself up and launch himself towards her.

She could see where the chip was through the lens but marking the spot proved to be more difficult than she originally thought it would be. The change in how she saw things caused some balance issues, allowing Cyborg Superman the upper hand. Straight-up consistent use of the X-ray vision was just too vertigo-inducing for her, which made Alex think that there was definitely a reason why her sister or Superman would stop what they were doing before they used it.

Battling through the nausea, Alex managed to fight back. Her brow was still wet with the blood dripping from a cut she received from an earlier blow from Cyborg Superman that she decided to make the best use of this situation. She wet one of her fingers with the blood and maneuvered herself throughout their scuffle so that she would be able to mark the nape of his neck where the spot was.

It took her a good three tries before she found herself successful. Alex turned off the X-ray vision after getting good distance, but her balance was still off, and Cyborg Superman definitely used that to his advantage as he landed a blow that sent her flying a good distance before she skidded to a halt on the rough sandy ground.

Her body was aching all over. Alex was sure that despite the suit, she was very much bruised and bleeding here and there. She yearned for her bed, for the warmth of her home, for Maggie's welcoming arms.

She wanted to see Kara beaming up to her, her mom smiling proudly, and to hear J'onn's exasperated sighs with all the trouble they get into at the base when they had a few moments of down time.

But more than that, she wanted to bring her father home. For all of this to be over.

She wanted that picturesque Sunday night dinner where everyone was present, gathering round the dinner table, happy.

And to get to that, she had to power through.

She got up in time to block Cyborg Superman's fists and they were once again back at it.

But hopefully, these would be the last few rounds.

"You'll never get _him_ back." the Cyborg Superman programming in her father taunted, trying to frustrate Alex some more.

But really, that was all the motivation she needed.

Alex blasted him with the gun to his chest, without the lens for now. She needed to get him far away to get herself in position of a clean shot. It worked but Cyborg Superman was quick on his feet and by the time Alex fixed the lens on the gun, he was coming at her fast.

Alex sent out a few warning shots, missing on purpose before she moved as swift as she could to avoid his heat-vision. It was a struggle, and Alex had nearly gotten the shot she needed twice only to miss on purpose when Cyborg Superman moved and she lost her opening.

She was quick to her feet, avoiding his attacks and advances as she focused on keeping her cool. She can't rush this. She needed to maintain the distance between them.

But that proved difficult especially when Cyborg Superman picked up on her purposeful misses and once again landed a quick fire punch that sent her flying again.

This time however, Alex was not going down without a fight, setting up a smoke grenade.

And then in a flash of an eye, there it was, her chance. Cyborg Superman was distracted, his back turned from her. From where she had landed roughly on the ground, Alex found she had the perfect shot.

She took a deep breath, as she raised her hand. Alex kept breathing slow breaths through her mouth, trying to keep her cool. This is the chance to prove just how well her aim was.

And boy was she betting on it to be good.

She fired at the spot, Alex keeping her mind blank, not wanting to think of what would happen next. She took her shot, she took her chance.

And she found that the next few minutes of her life would be the most nerve-wracking of all.

Cyborg Superman yelled in pain before falling down to his knees. The dust having cleared in time for Alex to see. She rushed as fast as she could to her father, his body landing roughly on the ground.

Alex cradled his head on her lap as his eyes fluttered a few times. He was breathing, judging from the heaving of his chest, but breathing shallowly. He raised his hand to brush a single tear that Alex hadn't ever noticed was rolling down her cheeks and smiled at her before he completely passed out.

Alex took in a short and shaky breath of relief after checking his pulse. He was alive, all she needed now was to get him back to base as soon as she could.

And it would seem that help would come faster than she thought was possible.

Alex barely had a moment to herself to breathe when she heard the sounds of a helicopter coming from the distance. An air of dust blew everywhere, covering Alex's already bloodied and dirty suit with even more sand. Maggie was the first out of the chopper, running towards her, followed by James who was being helped up by Lucy Lane.

Maggie almost pretty much crashed into her, falling down on her knees and holding her tight in her arms. "Don't ever do that again." she said in a shaky voice. "Don't dare to disappear on me again." she went on.

Alex for her part, couldn't help but smile as she relaxed into Maggie's arms. It was her homecoming. "I won't." Alex then whispered as a reply.

"Winn, we found her." Lucy then said through her com. "Yes, I'll give her a piece of your mind for turning her com off. How are things on your end?"

"You had us worried there Alex." James then said. "How… how is he?" he then asked with great uncertainty.

"We need to get him back to base. There's still a lot of work to be done." Alex replied and James soon helped her get him up. Maggie asked Alex to let her help James with this, she looked terribly injured as it was, and she needed to have herself checked as well. "How's J'onn?" Alex then found herself asking.

"He's been taken back to the base, the city's been secured." Lucy replied. "And sorry, but I need to drop you guys off to your base soon. Lois stole the com of the agent I have assigned on her and she's been frantically telling me how she just managed to survive an attack on her and her guard. I need to check on her. Batwoman just came in with updates. We've re-established most of the connections to our friends infiltrating the Cadmus base although we still can't reach a few of them in certain closed section. Oracle's working on it. We need to get them out of the base fast."

"Wait, why?" Alex then asked. "Have they found the projects?"

"Projects?" Lucy asked. "Last time we talked there was only one, Project 13."

"Haven't you been briefed about the updates?" Alex clarified.

"Not really, no." Lucy replied with all honesty. "J'onn thinks that this is a very sensitive case, we only needed to know that there was something we needed to retrieve from Cadmus but what it was, we don't know. He thought it was best that most of the agents were kept in the dark other than the ones stationed in your base as they were already cleared. We're still doing a thorough investigation in case we have moles in the agency. Why, what's up with Project 13?"

"Ah, that's a story we can get to on another day." James replied for Alex as they got themselves settled in the helicopter. "But Luce, I have a feeling that you'll surely get a kick out of this one."

Alex smiled as Lucy throw James a curious look. Maggie helped one of the other agents who went with them secure her dad while Alex felt herself relax in her seat, a weight being lifted of her shoulder.

It was a long was to go from that picture perfect image in her thoughts, the dream of being one happy family once again, but this was a giant leap towards it for sure.

And as they took off, Alex turned to face the rising sun, feeling the warmth of its rays kiss her skin. It felt invigorating after all the darkness that had shrouded them the past few days…

…the last few hours of her life most of all.

But now she could see a new day beginning.

A new dawn was in the horizon.

* * *

"Ka- I mean Batwoman!" Winn shouted as he ran out of the helipad carrying them to the facility. More and more of the same type of aircraft landed next to each other, dozens upon dozens of DEO agents spilling out. Next to the amazing fleet of helipads were three sets of jets, the smallest one being Kate's, the other two belonging to the Titans, both old and new. Of course Winn didn't know there was a third one that crashed in the Cadmus base somewhere, but he was still pretty much in awe of them without the third one added to the fleet if the look on his face upon seeing them was any indication of it.

"Agent Schott." Kate greeted with formality. She had just barely evacuated the premises, helping a few of the wounded that she could see along the way tp get out as well. Most of the guards started running away and leaving their post, evacuating as the sirens fell silent, knowing full well what they signaled.

But run away as they could, a few of the DEO agents that landed before Winn's carrier were already on it with capturing them.

"How's the evacuation?" Winn then asked, pulling a few files from his tablet up. "Have you seen Super-?"

"-girl?" Kate finished for him. "No, not yet. Neither have I seen Lena or…" she went on, a feeling of dread washing over her. It didn't help that Supergirl's com seemed to have died if not broken or something because even the echolocation system won't work. She's worried about Lena too, and she's worried about the stupid gray genomorph that had the memory bank. She wanted to trust him, she really did, that's why she let him keep it.

And just when she was starting to second guess everything, he proved her right.

"Batwoman, we meet again." Dubbilex greeted her as he calmly walked towards her and Winn, Lillian Luthor locked in a vice grip in his arms.

"Unhand me you…" Lillian tried to say, wanting to insult him but Winn cut him short.

"Let me be the first of many to say that you're under arrest, Lillian Luthor, for your crimes against all of humanity and aliens everywhere."

"And now I'm supposed to listen to the tech support?!" she exclaimed.

"Oh well, he _is_  the tech who bested many of your hackers." Batwoman replied before turning to face Dubbilex.

But before she could even ask it, Dubbilex answered her lingering question. "Lena and Supergirl are on their way to retrieve Project 14."

"Good." Kate replied with a sigh of relief as soon as many armed DEO agents rushed towards them. "Apprehend Dr. Luthor, leave Dubbilex alone. The genomorph is our friend and ally." she then said before they took Lillian Luthor into custody.

"So I hear we have ten minutes or less?" Winn then asked diffusing the tense situation.

"Or less." Kate replied, holding her breath, expecting to see her friends to come out soon and make their great escape. Or at least confirm that they found some different exit through the coms.

Nightwing made out with Flamebird, or as Kate knew her best, Bette Kane, her cousin, assisting some seriously injured Cadmus guards before they suddenly heard a powerful supersonic sound bursting through the air. A blur of red and blue flew into the skies with something – or rather, someone who clearly resembled Lex Luthor – flew into the skies.

Winn looked like he was about to reconfirm what he saw with Kate when they saw something black and red come into view before quickly being followed by a man in a red suit and a black cowl and a cyborg who Winn both recognized from helping them out in the raids.

Project 13, Conner, halted right in front of Kate, Mon-El in his arms a look of agony frozen on his face.

"Oh my God, what happened to him?!" Winn exclaimed as Conner set him down as gentle as he could.

"He… he saved my life." Conner then replied before turning to look uncertainly at Dubbilex, Winn, and then Kate.

And Kate had to admit, even with this being the second time he's seen him, Conner's resemblance to both Lex and Clark were uncanny that it took her a minute to catch up to what was happening.

Even Winn seemed to have taken a double take on him.

"Batwoman." Red Robin greeted as soon as he reached them, with Cyborg splitting off to see if Nightwing or Flamebird needed any help, or if the DEO could use an extra hand on anything.

"What happened?" Kate then asked.

"He was fighting what looked like a second coming of Kryptonite Man. Except his whole body was covered in kryptonite." Tim, Red Robin, replied.

"That might've been Dr. Abernathy." Dubbilex then edified. "He disappeared after Supergirl destroyed the last Kryptonite Man and Westfield started a new project."

"Yeah, I kind of pieced that info together considering I ran into them while chasing Westfield. I'm asking what happened to Valor." Kate replied. "He's not affected by kryptonite."

"Lead. He twisted a slab of lead around him while I melted it from afar." Conner then replied.

"He can't… he's not supposed to be exposed to… Lead's his kryptonite!" Winn frantically said after that.

"Do you think the serum you used the last time could help him?" Kate asked.

"I don't know." Winn replied with all honesty. "He was exposed to a small amount the last time. I'm guessing this time he was exposed to more."

"Then take him back to the base immediately." Kate immediately replied with a command in her tone. "Take my jet, it's faster than any of the helipads and it's faster than the Titans' jets."

"Wait, me?" Winn the asked confused.

"Yes, you." Kate replied. "Agent Schott, Winn, you're the only one who knows where the serum is and how to administer it. Everyone else is tied up here."

"You trust that I can fly your jet? I mean that's cool and all, but what if we crash?"

"It has autopilot." Kate then huffed as a reply, as if stating the obvious.

"I could go with them." Conner then offered. "I could fly faster than the jet."

"True, but we're running out of time Conner." Kate replied, looking at the teenage amalgamation of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. "And Lena and Supergirl, they're not out yet." she pointed out.

Because Lena's safety, along with Kara's and Project 14, were on the top of her priority list and no matter what crazy event kept popping up in the past few minutes, it was still her top priority.

Conner looked conflicted before understanding what Kate meant, nodding his head along. "I can look for them and help." he replied.

"They should be around the same sector from where your lab was. It shouldn't be that far away." Dubbilex then said. "And thirteen… Conner… I'm glad you're safe."

Conner nodded in response before looking back to the base. Kate has no idea what kind of thoughts were running in his mind, but the determination in his eyes was enough to tell her he won't let Lena down.

Kara too.

"I trust you, Agent Schott. Keep my friend safe." he then said, his focus still on the base. It would seem that Conner was doing the best he could to locate the two, possibly using his super-hearing over X-ray vision just like Kara before.

"He's my friend too." Winn replied. "One of my best friends to be honest."

Conner nodded once more before flying off. Kate wasted no time afterwards to help Winn get Mon-El on his jet.

"I'll catch a lift with some of our friends." Kate then said once Winn was settled inside with Mon-El on the back seat.

"And here, Agent Schott. You'll be the first back so I trust you would keep this safe and secure this piece of drive with you." Dubbilex added, handing him the memory drive. "We can't risk losing it during last minute shenanigans. We are transporting with us Lillian Luthor, after all."

Winn nodded frantically as he set the autopilot on and got ready for lift off.

"Oracle can help you through the coms if you encounter any problems." Kate said through the coms as she and Dubbilex jumped off the wing part of the jet and stepped back to give Winn clearance to fly. "Don't worry Winn, we can save Mon-El." she then said with all honesty. AT the very least, Kate truly hoped so.

"Thanks." he replied with his usual uncertain charms. "You know, for someone who irritated you on a daily basis for constantly hitting on you for a good long while, you sound like you care for him."

"Well, you irritate me on a daily basis with all your stalling with the technobabble and accidental file openings, but you've grown on me." Kate then pointed out.

"Thanks, I guess?"

"Take what you can get, Agent Schott. And as for Mon-El, he did something brave. Stupid, but brave. He saved Conner's life and that means a lot. That means he's found something worth giving it his all to keep safe. Something to put above himself."

"Conner?" Winn asked, sounding confused as hell.

Kate shook her head and chuckled, not that Winn could see her now in the skies above. She remembered the little chat she and Mon-El had as they rushed through the halls of the base, looking for Lena and the two clones.

"Family." Kate replied knowing full well the weight of what the word meant.

* * *

Kara set Lena down as soon as they got inside the lab. Thanks to a little help from her heat-vision, she managed to pretty much melt down the door and made an easy hole for her to fly through. They really didn't have time to bother with keys or prints or whatever protocol Cadmus had with their security system.

Lena immediately rushed towards the main computer next to the gestation pod holding Project 14. She was saying something about how they got stuff started already so hopefully it wouldn't take that long to get her ready to get out of the system. Kara wasn't really paying much attention to the details right then, she was too busy staring in awe of what was right in front of her.

The pod was transparent, possibly made of some glassy kind of polymer holding a young toddler of what seemed to be three years old. She had blonde hair, like Kara, that fell to her shoulder, her eyes peacefully closed with a light smile on her face. It was strange, truth be told. Kara felt like she was seeing an image of a younger version of herself but at an angle the child definitely looked like the four year old Lena that she saw in Lex's memories.

Kara walked over to the pod, pressing the palm of her hand on the surface that separated her and the child she considered her progeny. She was wearing a white suit, similar to the dress that Kara wore back when she was still in Krypton, blue lines outlined her suit just like the red that outlined Kon's black one, with the crest of the House of El outlined by the blue lines in the middle of her chest. Lena took a second to look briefly up at her, catching her attention. "We haven't aged her to meet Conner's age yet. Cadmus didn't want another Project 12 since she's the first successful clone they made from us. Memories have been uploaded though."

"Memories?" Kara whispered.

Lena nodded gently. "Happy memories. Of me, of you. Of what you have of me, of what I have of you. Of your friends, of mine too. I want her to know the people we love. I want her to know how much we love each other. That's basically it. I didn't want her to be programmed to be like us, I want her to be a blank slate. To make her own memories and live. We couldn't exactly do it for Conner, but at least she gets that chance, right?"

Kara smiled and nodded in response. She wanted to say something but found it hard to speak, choking up a little on her words. Lena thought of everything.

And if anything, Kara could see how much light there was in Lena, how much love. Because Lena loved the little girl Cadmus had created from their genes.

 _Their_ little girl.

"I might've decided to include your memories of Krypton. That's something Conner will never have with Clark but I want her to honor the memories of where she came from. Where you came from."

Kara's smile grew ten times brighter, this time barely able to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

She and Kal were no longer the last children of Krypton.

Their world survived in a new one, creating a new legacy with them.

But as much as Kara wanted to stay and take her time in processing everything that was happening, she couldn't. There was a speeding beeping sound that started to build before they heard a voice through the intercoms of the base, the one attached to the main computer in the lab.

TWO MINUTES BEFORE FINAL DESTRUCTION

"Of course." Kara then commented with the sudden intrusion. "Did they all go to the same school of villainy or something? What with the self-destructing base and all, the grand schemes and delusions of grandeur, and Lillian giving me her villain monologue while strapping me to that terrible table, it definitely feels like they're taking this villainy thing to heart."

Lena chuckled, before turning her full attention to the screen in front of her, typing away. "Kara, love, humor at a time like this?"

"Well, it helps ease the situation. It definitely beats waiting." Kara replied.

"That's her?" they then both heard someone say coming from behind them. Both Kara and Lena looked back to find Kon coming into the lab, the same look of awe on his face as he walked towards Project 14's pod.

"Conner…" Lena then said half wanting to walk towards him and wrap him in an embrace, because of course Lena already adored him.

"Lena, I'm glad you're safe." Kon replied awkwardly shuffling his feet, not knowing if he should hug her as well. Lena simply smiled and went for the brief hug.

Yep, she definitely adored him if the relived and happy look on her face was anything to go by.

Truth be told, Kara did too.

He reminded him of a baby Kal, strangely enough. And it made Kara feel like she was living out what could have been if she had been there for him growing up, be the big sister he could have looked up to and not the other way around.

But the sudden presence of Kon brought to mind something else entirely.

"Kon? What are you doing here? I asked Mon-El to take you to safety!" Kara then replied. "You need to get out of here now. We'll be right behind you."

"He did." Kon replied. "Long story. Right now your friends asked to help me find you. I don't know if you know but…"

"This place is going to blow up?" Kara finished for him. "Yep, we totally know. Oh, by the way, did everyone make it out safely?"

"I think there are some guards left in the premises. Some of the others in costume are helping them evacuate. A few of the cowards left their post for their own life." Kon replied.

And Kara couldn't help but notice the hint of Lex in there and as much as he hated the guy, he didn't kill Kal this time or Lena, so she'll let that slip.

"We should see if anyone else needs our help and get them out of here."

"Our priority is to get out here in one piece. All four of us." Kon argued.

"There's going to be time for that Kon."

ONE MINUTE REMAINING

Kon looked conflicted after hearing the announcement from the computer but nevertheless agreed. "I take one side, you take the other?"

"It would be faster that way." Kara then replied with approval and Kon again nodded, this time smirking at her. "What?"

"Race you back!" Kon called out, running ahead of her. Kara quickly soon followed but before getting too far away from the lab, she rushed back to where Lena was typing away at the computer and kissed her on the cheek. "Be right back." She quickly muttered, clearing up the halls and getting people out to safety, either handing them to DEO agents or familiar friends who were eager to help speed up the process, most of them getting ready to leave as well while a few agents who were tasked to remain for clean-up, recovery, and investigating whatever would remain of the base afterwards were on their way to a safe distance.

Thirty seconds later, Kara was zooming through the halls, meeting Kon halfway on their way back to the lab. Lena was walking over to the now opening pod as they both halted having reached their destination.

"I can carry her, you can take Lena." Kon then said, immediately deciding how they would be making their great escape.

"Sounds good. We both take off at the same time and you stick by me at all times, okay? We need to stay sharp on our way back to the DEO." Kara replied.

"Got it." Kon immediately said, walking over to Lena who was cradling Project 14 in her arms. Kon looked like an older brother, eager to hold his baby sister in his arms and, despite the dire situation they were in, Kara couldn't help but smile at the image of it.

Kara wasted no time. As Kon held on tight to Project 14, she went over to Lena and lifted her up, carrying her bridal style.

TEN SECONDS

"That's our cue." Kara then said after the computer proceeded with the countdown.

"Up, up, and away?" Lena replied with a smile.

"Up, up and away." Kara replied as she shot a clear path above them with her heat-vision and zoomed up high above the ground and onto the direction of the DEO, Kon right behind her.

The sounds of helicarriers soon followed as Kara flew higher up with Lena in her arms. Kon looked confused as to why she was halting, letting the rest go ahead of them, but he nevertheless followed Kara. Kara looked on as she saw the destruction of the Cadmus base, along with Lena and Kon.

It was the end of the era for Cadmus.

The sun above shone brighter than ever, the new day greeting them with warmth as the sun's rays broke through the dark clouds above them.

It was over.

And Kara couldn't help but be relieved.

* * *

The DEO had been extremely busy for the rest of the day. Winn thought that the invasion had been the longest day of his life, he was proven wrong when they faced off K-Man and Kara nearly died.

Now he was being proven wrong again.

Winn had barely arrived, sounding the alarms for the medical team to help him look over Mon-El and stabilize him. J'onn was quickly recovering and decided to take command as Winn scrambled around looking for any remnants of the serum that helped him in the past.

There was quite a lot to be honest, all left behind by Caitlyn to help them along if ever they needed it. The serum was, however, rendered ineffective, with the amount of lead Mon-El had been exposed too and the prolonged exposure and delayed treatment didn't help. They needed something stronger.

Eliza Danvers had started to look over what Mon-El might have needed, but he was quickly slipping away, time was running out and they needed help.

Help that came in the form of Alex.

Alex arrived just in time to bark out orders from the bed they forced her on so that hey could treat her injuries. Her attention being split didn't help though. Her priority was to stabilize Jeremiah, something that Eliza was quick to focus on as well, leaving him scrambling on his feet to help the Daxamite.

It wasn't until Lena arrived with Kara that they managed to stabilize Mon-El. But that was still not enough. Every hour passing by, slipping away, Mon-El was still getting worse and worse.

Things were settling down. Lena went to see her mother in her cozy little DEO cell needing what Winn supposed was closure. Kon had been quickly examined by Alex, along with Project 14, before Kara took him to see Krypto and Streaky to keep him busy. They were still waiting for Superman to wrap things up regarding Lex's escape and there was still the fact that he needed to decide with Kara and Lena what to do with the memory disc. Kara and Lena both agree that they should destroy it but they wanted to wait on Superman to decide on what he wants to do with it too. In the meantime, Project 14 remained in a bed next to Mon-El's as she remained peacefully asleep.

J'onn had regained control of running the show, coordinating everything. Kate was busy helping him deal with something they uncovered during the raid of the final base. M'gann, meanwhile, proceeded to do quick rounds around the city to make sure everything was okay while Maggie made sure that things on the ground were clear, and no riot was breaking out from everything that had just happened that morning. James, in the meantime, was resting in one of the training rooms, still recovering.

"We need to figure out how to save Mon-El." Kara said walking into the medical bay. Winn was still there holding onto his tablet as tightly as he could, standing between Mon-El and Project 14's bed.

"I tried contacting Barry and Cisco if Caitlyn could help us." Winn then replied. "With your device and all."

"And?" Kara asked, looking hopeful.

"Apparently something happened and Caitlyn's currently going full-on Killer Frost on them. I spoke with another guy named Julian, he's smart, but no Caitlyn. He had some ideas but we couldn't get them to work. I'd try to call again but it sounds like they have their own share of crazy going on there."

Kara nodded thoughtfully, looking disappointed about the news. "He actually saved Kon." she then said. "We owe it to him to do everything we can to save him. He's our friend Winn, our family. There has to be a way."

"I don't know Kara." Winn replied, sounding incredibly frustrated about things. "We've tried everything. We've looked into everything that could save his life but there's just… there's nothing we have that could. Not here on earth anyways. Not in this version of earth or any… not in…" he went on, noting how even their friends on Earth-1 couldn't even help much.

Then that's when it hit him.

"Not in this time." Winn then said, Kara looking at him curiously as he said it.

Winn immediately abandoned his tablet and rushed towards the armory where they kept a safe for a few select items, thankfully that included the Legion Ring. Kara had just reached the armory when Winn started running back with it.

"Winn, slow down. What are you thinking? And what are you doing with that ring?" Kara asked as she watched Winn frantically disconnect Mon-El from the monitors.

"They said we'll know when the time comes to use this. They gave us this for a reason, Kara." Winn argued, taking the ring out of the box.

"The Legionnaires?" Kara clarified. "You mean, this, what's happened to Mon, you think this is what they meant?"

"It's worth a shot." Winn then said, propping Mon-El up and holding his arm around Winn's shoulder to secure him.

"I'm going with you then." Kara, always the good friend that she was, offered.

But Winn shook his head. "You have to be here when _she_ wakes up." Winn replied, nodding towards Project 14.

"But Winn…" Kara tried to argue.

"This isn't goodbye Kara." Winn then said. Kara looked like she was about to argue about his seemingly insane idea but she didn't. Kara stepped back and nodded, her eyes showed her uncertainties about the whole thing, but she let Winn go.

This was his own adventure to face.

And with a deep breath, Winn wore the ring.

Everything was bright after that, he and Mon-El were enveloped by a strange light that only ceased to glow once they had reached their destination.

"Winn!" he heard Mon-El say, but not the Mon-El in his arms.

A different Mon-El in a red suit, blue cape flowing behind him as he ran towards where they stood, and the crest of the House of El stitched on the upper-side of his suit. His hair was a bit longer, he looked cheerful and older.

Behind him was Lighting Lad and Brainiac 5 all running up to greet him.

He did it, he was in the future.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Winn admitted as Lightning Lad took his time's Mon-El and laid him on a nearby table. Winn looked around, taking in his surroundings, from the highly impressive technological features of the base and the fact that not far from where they stood was a balcony where he could see spaceships flying about and aliens piloting some of them told him that he was most definitely not in National City anymore.

"Oh Gosh, Winn! It's so good to see you!" Mon-El, future Mon-El too be clear, greeted him with a bear hug.

"What's going on?" Winn then asked.

"Ah, I suppose we had set the ring to the wrong future." Lightning Lad clarified. "You were supposed to seek help with an earlier version of us."

"No matter, we could correct that. Send an advance notice to the past us three years ago, tell them we're sending Valor." Brainiac then replied.

"So I _was_ supposed to bring him here?" Winn asked.

"Technically speaking, three years before here, but with the Blight nonsense in the past, things have changed by a bit." Mon-El then replied. "Thanks for pulling through for me bud."

"But wait, if we're supposed to come three years before, why do you keep Mon-El? Why does he stay? Because he's here, being chummy with all of you guys and all."

"The serum we have for Valor needs to be administered daily." Brainiac 5 edified. "We have unlimited stock of the ingredients and the technology to reproduce it here. You don't. Not in your timeline. If we send him back, the only way to save him is to send him to the Phantom Zone where time will not pass and he will be in stasis. Here, he is a valued member of the Legion of Superheroes."

"So you'll be staying here." Winn then noted, feeling a hint of melancholy hit him. "I mean three years before this place, time... you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Mon-El replied with sullen smile. "I miss you all so much. I want you guys to know that. But I have a family here now too. I'm happy here Winn, you don't have to worry about me."

"I know, I just… I'll miss you too." Winn then replied before an alarm rung out.

"We have trouble downtown. Valor, why don't you take care of that? We'll finish up sending the younger you to where he needs to get." Brainiac 5 then said.

The future Mon-El nodded before turning to Winn again, sporting a smug smile. "Don't be a stranger Winn, visit us anytime."

Winn nodded. "I'll try. No promises, you know how they can't function without me." he replied, trying not to get all choked up.

Mon-El chuckled before running off to duty.

"Now Agent Schott, care to help us save your friend's life and send him to the right time?" Brainiac 5 then asked.

And Winn nodded.

It was time to say goodbye to Mon-El.

* * *

It was over.

It really was.

And Lena felt relieved. She would be able to breathe again, start over the way she wanted. She would be able to start the life she had always dreamed of having.

Well, not quite what she's always dreamed of but good enough.

Her name would always bear a shadow above her head, but now she was not alone. She had a family. And she would never feel alone again. She would be able to fight to live in the light, be happy.

She would be fine.

If only the need to make everything her family had done, all the atrocious deeds, didn't outweigh everything for now.

Hours earlier, she was desperately trying to help Winn stabilize Mon-El after the Daxamite recklessly risked his life to save Conner. Lena had to admit, she's always been a little bit annoyed by him but he proved to be a good person, and honestly this was the least she could do.

At least she could help him in a small way, indefinite but it was something.

She couldn't really do much to help Jeremiah.

Lena had then lingered outside the door of the makeshift chambers where they kept Jeremiah Danvers in some sort of stasis. She watched as Alex, all bruised and battle-worn, worked with her mom to figure out a game plan on how they could remove the chips Cadmus implanted inside him.

At a glance, it looked like one final stretch, but Lena knew the most difficult battle in getting Jeremiah back was still ahead of them. If they were to be successful, the recovery process for Jeremiah would be challenging. There's the fact that Cadmus replaced some of his limbs with cybernetic parts. There's dealing with the trauma of what he's been through, readjusting to a new life after all what Cadmus had put him through.

And Lena wished she could have the power to reverse time, prevent it from happening. She wished she could do more.

Especially after Eliza spotted her by the doorway, walked towards her and welcomed her into her arms. "Thank you for all the help you've given us. I know what you did, infiltrating Cadmus, facing their horrors, all just to bring back Conner and the little version of you and Kara home. It had to be difficult. I know Alex was the one who fought her father, but in a way you brought him home to us too. Don't blame yourself for something you didn't do. The sins of your family aren't yours to bear, Lena. You are your own person."

"She's right. You're not your family, Lena. Kara's been telling us that from the start and you've more than proven that already." Alex had then said after being ushered inside by Eliza.

"I'm sorry." Lena replied, holding back the tears threatening to fall. "I'm still very sorry for all my family has done. It may not be much, but you have all of L-Corp's resources at your disposal. Everything you'll need."

Alex and Eliza nodded in response before Lena offered to help out a bit with what they were working on. 

Some time after that, she found herself checking back on Mon-El and Project 14. Winn was left alone after Kara went to spend some time with Kon to check on him.

"Wanting to know if she's woken up yet?" Winn had asked.

"No, yes, maybe." Lena had found herself admitting. "Alex might've said something about her having green eyes."

"Yeah, she blinked awake for barely a few minutes. Kara nearly missed it. You should've seen her zooming in here to see. She looked really excited. I knew you were busy checking in on Kate but don't worry, you didn't miss much. I have it all on surveillance, I think I can make a copy of it."

"You don't have to." Lena had replied.

"It's the least I could do." Winn had then said. "And you know, I can tell there's something on your mind right now. You can talk to me too. I think with everything we've been through since we met – Cadmus, invasions, and all this nonsense – it's safe to say that we're more than friends, Lena. We're a family."

"Thank you, Winn." Lena had replied. "Do you know when J'onn would be done interrogating my mother?"

"He walked out minutes ago." Winn had absentmindedly replied before Lena started walking away. "Where are you going?"

"Seeking a conclusion." was all that Lena gave in reply.

Which is how she found herself standing outside Lillian's cell, a few good minutes of silence passing between them. Lillian still shrouded herself with an air of arrogance, despite the bruising mark left behind by Lena's earlier punch.

The memory of it still definitely felt good though.

"I suppose this is where you gloat?" Lillian then said, finally breaking the ice.

"No." Lena replied. "I suppose there's a part of me that still wants to ask why, why you've done all of this, and don't tell me it's all for me or Lex because that answer is just unacceptable. Things could have been different. All of it."

"Then your visit here is fruitless." Lillian adamantly replied.

"You'll rot in a cozy little cell on Stryker's Island, right next to Lex possibly, and you still think you didn't do anything wrong? You very nearly tore a family apart, you put them through hell, and nothing? It means nothing to you?"

"I fought for what I believed in, Lena." was all the Lillian replied.

"At least Lex could acknowledge that things could have been different. At least he still has some tiny bit of humanity." Lena replied. "I don't know what I was expecting when I walked in here, I guess I was asking too much to hope that there's a bit of humanity left in you too."

"One day you'll understand why I did all I did." Lillian adamantly argued.

"I will never understand why you played god with other people's lives." Lena replied.

"Then maybe you really aren't a Luthor, not like I once hoped." Lillian then said.

"No, I'm my own person. If it means I'll have to pass through an eye of a needle to redefine what it means to be a Luthor, I will." Lena replied with a sense of new found confidence.

Because this time she believed in it, no matter how impossible the task may seem.

And as she walked away, turning her back to the woman who she thought was all she had left as a mother, Lena could feel the last weight on her shoulder slipping off, finally setting her free.

It was over.

This was the start of a new chapter to her life.

* * *

Dubbilex, the genius of a grey genomorph, had been a tremendous amount of help, as much as Alex hated to admit it.

After an extremely long interrogation with J'onn, the grey genomorph was allowed to assist them. He even offered him a job before he went to interrogate Lillian Luthor.

Honestly, Alex would have had the pleasure. She most definitely wished to have it, the chance to face the woman who did this to her father, see her behind the four walls of her cell. But J'onn knew that her anger about what she had done to Jeremiah might cause her to make questionable decisions should she face her now. Decisions she might regret later.

But back to Dubbilex, Alex was thankful for his presence. He was able to provide great help in dealing with those who were injured. She could tell that J'onn was warming up to him, and even James too.

Truthfully she was too. His compliments and kind words about her father helped seal the deal. Not to mention the fact that he produced a copy of all of Lillian Luthor's work files. It would be a nightmare to sift through all of it, but she was sure that there would be something there that could help her dad. He was stable now, but it was still an uphill battle from there on out.

Alex focused all of her energy in trying to figure out a way to help her father until Kate dropped by to pull her out for a coffee break. "Sometimes coffee is the answer. That and stepping away. Honestly, I think sometimes Chinese food helps too but coffee's all I have the time for now." she reasoned and Alex conceded to her point.

"I take it that Superman's coming soon then?"

"Yes." Kate replied, handing Alex a drink. "We still need to decide on what to do next. There's Conner and then there's Project 14. And, well, A.G.E.N.D.A too. Did I mention Amanda Spence? She's apparently spearheading the group and is Westfield's daughter."

"Honestly, I'm still not over the fact that they have a clone of Conner."

"Don't worry, Oracle's already working on tracking them down. We have a lot of files on Cadmus, and we now know how they operate. I'm confident we can take them down." Kate replied.

"You do sound confident." Alex noted.

"Look around Alex. We defied odds greater than the neo-Cadmus threatening to knock on our doors. We're stronger than before because of what we've been through and we're not going in mostly blind this time. We have a great amount of intel on them thanks to what we recovered from Cadmus." Kate then said. Alex relaxed a little, letting herself be comforted about the thought of swift justice being delivered. Kate seemed to ease up too before speaking once more. "So, about other matters, I called my cousin."

"Which one? The girl with the Titans or…"

"The billionaire play boy one." Kate replied. "Sadly the Hamilton corporation is a little more on the weapons and fancy gadgets side of things but Wayne Enterprise isn't. I mean they are too but they have a vast number of subsidiary companies that could help Jeremiah. He said that whatever you need, resources or anything, Wayne Tech is at your disposal. Just give Tim a head's up if you'll need something hard to procure."

"Thank you." Alex replied with genuine smile. She had to admit, if anyone would have told her that she and Kate Kane would become good friends a few months ago, Alex would have laughed at them. But now, she's glad that they did become friends. That they were allies.

Alex took a deep breath and relaxed a bit, taking a sip of her coffee. She was incredibly thankful at the number of people who would like to help her father get back to his feet too. "Between that and Lena's offer with L-Corp, I think we're set." she went on. "But what about you? Cadmus has been snuffed out, your mission's all complete. Does this mean, you're leaving soon?"

"Why? Do you want to get rid of me that bad?" Kate replied with a chuckle.

"I'm just asking, what with Cadmus being taken down now and your confidence about beating A.G.E.N.D.A. before they can even say their name..." Alex then said with a shrug.

"There's still clean up. And there's the fact that we have to launch the new offices for my family's company here, something that kept getting delayed because of all the attacks. Not to mention I did promise Lena I'll be a better friend." Kate then said. "Gotham's my home, but even when all of this is over, that doesn't mean I can't visit regularly. Why Agent Danvers? Will you miss me?"

Alex simply chuckled in response before they were alerted that Superman had arrived.

Everyone that was directly involved in the matter had gathered around the command center. Conner was playing with Krypto as Superman walked towards him and welcomed him to the 'family' with a hug. Lena on the other hand looked deep in thought, just as Kara walked over to the command center, meeting Alex and Kate halfway.

"Where's Agent Schott?" J'onn had asked Kara out of curiosity. "Is he still watching over Mon-El?"

"No, Agent Schott is here." Winn then said popping out of a strange light that had appeared out of nowhere.

"O-kay, but where's Mon-El? Did they help him?" Kara then asked.

Followed up by Superman with a question. "Is that a Legion ring?"

"Yeah, a special kind." Winn provided as an answer to Superman. "It's a long story." he then said before turning his attention to Kara. "As for Mon-El, longer story. But he's found his place with the Legionnaires."

Kara simply nodded taking that information in and Alex was left to wonder if that was the plan all along, by the Legionnaires at the very least. They did give Winn the ring in case they needed them.

"Well, okay then, if that's that I'd like to get a few things squared away before we talk about A.G.E.N.D.A. and how to deal with them." Superman then said, taking the floor. "First thing's first, how's Jeremiah? The League would like to extend help in any way possible."

The offer took Alex off guard by a little, considering they had more pressing matters and all, but she supposed that this was the least that Superman, no, Clark Kent, could do to repay the kindness of someone who had once helped him too.

He was like a son to his parents during his youth, Alex knew that, but this was the first time she really understood what it meant.

"I'll keep the offer in mind." Alex replied. "But I think we're set in holding him here. If you know any super special surgeons though, that would be amazing."

Clark smiled. "I'll see what I can do on that end."

"Okay, item number two then?" Kate then prompted him.

"Right." Clark started to say, taking a deep breath. "I don't mean to overstep any boundaries here but we need to figure out what to do with Conner and Project 14, who we seriously need to name."

"We'll work on it." Kara then said, looking over at Lena with a smile. "But I'd like to have her here Kal. Lena and I, we've talked about and decided to take care of her and raise her."

Clark nodded. "And I'm sure Lena wouldn't mind taking care of the legalities and paperwork?"

"I already have my second assistant working on it. Jess is still a bit shaken up with everything but Ethan has it covered."

"Can we trust Ethan?" Kara then asked. "Who is Ethan again? I swear Lena you have too many assistants. I'd like to note though that Jess is still my favorite."

Lena then chuckled. "You like Ethan. He's the one who geeks out with you about N'SYNC."

"Oh, then we can totally trust Ethan." Kara then replied with a huge grin that Alex couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Of course Kara will trust anyone who loves N'SYNC as much as she does and her sister isn't even ashamed of it.

"Glad to hear." Clark then said. "But I'd like to keep an eye on Conner myself, if you two wouldn't mind."

"He's got a bit of you, Superman, I can't deny that." Lena replied. "But I want him to regularly visit us here, that's my condition."

"Of course." Superman replied. "But for now, Smallville needs a Superboy."

"Smallville?" Kara asked. "He won't live with you in Metropolis?"

"He'll be with me on the most part but Lois and I kind of have a busy schedule. Not to mention Lois might still freak out a little for now, if not be highly amused by all of this. Besides, Smallville is a good place for him to get a good grip on his powers, train a little, and have a normal life. Ma could always use a bit of company too. I talked to her already and she's excited to have Conner over."

"Sounds like a magical place." Conner then said a bit unsure.

"Trust me kid, you're gonna love Smallville." Clark then said with a grin.

"Okay, but does that mean you're adopting Conner?" Alex then asked to clarify things.

"I was thinking we'd pass better as cousins." Clark then said.

"Can Krypto come along with me?" Conner then asked sounding incredibly excited.

"Well…" Kara replied sounding hesitant to which Alex looked incredibly amused. "Of course he can, just bring him along when you visit. But I'm keeping Streaky."

"Deal." Conner replied.

"Alright, anything else?" Kate asked, looking at Superman. Clark shook his head. "Okay then, onto the main _A.G.E.N.D.A._ for this meeting." she then said, wasting no time in getting to the bottom of things.

* * *

Kara had to admit, this had been the craziest day she ever had, destroying a disc with Lena's, Kal's, and her own memories included. Cadmus had fallen but A.G.E.N.D.A. comes in its place. Based on Kate's report and Oracle's impressive intel, it seemed that the group was still a little new, and with the League in full cooperation of taking them down, Kara felt reassured that they would beat them in record time.

After all, they've been through hell a good number of times that day on its own and they still survived to watch the sun set and give way to a new night.

Kara checked on Project 14 for the umpteenth time after their meeting, she was still sleeping though, Alex explaining that since she's younger than Kon, this could be her way of readjusting from not being in the pod anymore. Kal, on the other hand, agreed to give Kon a few days to adjust and let Alex, Dubbilex, and Lena make sure that everything's okay with him, that he wasn't injured or harmed by the brawl with the second Kryptonite Man. It would also give Martha Kent enough time to prepare for his arrival.

Jeremiah's home too. Not perfect, not whole, but home nonetheless, and Kara was sure that together they would be able to endure everything else to come. Her only regret was that she wasn't able to say goodbye to Mon-El. He was annoying, very trying sometimes, but he was still family. Winn, though, had reassured that Mon-El could always visit them. It would be short, but he can always swing by to say hello whenever he could. In fact, Brainiac 5 himself promised that Mon-El would undoubtedly visit them a few times.

But for now, the day was saved, the world was at peace, and really there was only one thing that needed to be done.

Okay, maybe two.

Kara found herself walking towards the balcony of the DEO base stopping right next to Lena who was looking at the view of the city, deep at thought.

"I think you might actually have a better view of the city here than what I have in my office." Lena then said, cutting the silence between them short.

"Well, I can tell for sure that my view is extremely beautiful." Kara replied, looking at Lena causing her to blush.

"We need to name her." Lena then said, changing the topic and getting straight to business. "And I've been thinking about it for a while now, even before Clark said we should, but I just couldn't come up with a name for our little girl."

" _Our_ little girl." Kara repeated, sporting the biggest grin on her face.

"Sorry, I mean…" Lena immediately started backtracking.

"No, I like the way it is." Kara cut her short, clarifying things as soon as she could. All this time they kept planning on saving Project 14 but they never exactly talked about how they would take care of her or what happens after. But if anything, one thing was clear. She most definitely was her and Lena's little girl. "She's our daughter." Kara went on noticing how Lena blushed at that comment.

Because she really kind of was, and no matter what anyone else says, it won't change anything to Kara.

"Okay then. " Lena replied with a light smile. "So what do we name our little girl?"

"What did you have in mind?" Kara asked. "I asked Kal for suggestions and I think we can assume he's terrible at naming people. He plans to name a future son Jon, after Jonathan Kent, and that's cute and all but to name a daughter Martha… the name's good I guess but there are too many Martha's in the world."

"I could imagine Clark would dote on her if she were to be named Martha. I could honestly think of another person who would."

"Who?" Kara pressed on.

"Bruce Wayne." Lena edified. "But she's not a Martha."

"I agree, she isn't." Kara then said.

"How about we name her after your mother, Alura? If not, how about your aunt Astra?"

"That would be a good way to honor them but I was thinking we can name our twins that. After all, my mom and aunt Astra are twins."

"So we're having twins, huh?" Lena then playfully replied and Kara simply shrugged.

"How about your birth mom's name?" Kara then asked.

"Kara, I told you before, I really can't remember my parents' names. Well, my birth mom's name in particular. The accident itself with losing them and everything else that followed… I wish I could remember it you know?"

Kara simply nodded before pressing a kiss on Lena's forehead. "Okay then. Let me think... how about Ariella? Ariella Luthor."

"First of all, it makes her sound like a Disney princess with red hair, and she most definitely does not look like a Disney princess with red hair. Second, I prefer she has Danvers as her last name."

"How about Danvers-Luthor or Luthor-Danvers?" Kara proposed. "I think I like Luthor-Danvers a lot."

"How about we finalize the detail on the last name after we give her a first one?" Lena replied and Kara agreed.

"Okay, how about Linda then?" Kara offered.

"It sounds like the name of Ray's cousin in Earth-1."

"Linda Lee?"

"You just made it worse, Kara." Lena said with a straight face. "Our little girl is special, she deserves a special name."

"Okay, okay. Well I was thinking we should give her something that goes well as a Kryptonian name as well, so how about Cir-El?"

"Love, that sounds like 'cereal'." Lena replied, shutting her down with the suggestion immediately.

"Ouch, that's savage." Kara noted.

"Yes, but can you imagine the other kids teasing her because of that?"

"I suppose you're right." Kara then said. "How about Matrix? It's unique for sure, or Mae? We can name her Matrix and call her Mae for short."

"Matrix sounds like something my brother would name her, and I'm pretty sure he once dated a girl named Mae." Lena replied.

"Gross. Not Mae then or Matrix." Kara then said. "Hmmm… how about Galatea?"

"Again, sounds like something Lex would name her." Lena pointed out.

"Lori?" Kara quickly proposed. At this point she was going with whatever pops in her head first - because _Rao,_ she just realized, she never really thought about having progeny of her own, she never thought it would be possible - and was just going with it. "It fits your name's alliteration. We could name her Lori Luthor-Danvers." Kara suggested.

"Sounds like you're getting somewhere there, but it's not quite there yet."

"Lara? That's Kal's mom's name. We've always been close. If not how about Laurel?"

"Hmm… how about Laura? It still fits the alliteration, which brings out the bit of Luthor in her, and it's an anagram of your mother's name, which is a perfect representation of the bit of you, Kara Zor-El, in her."

"Laura." Kara repeated with a charming smile on her face, walking towards Lena and resting her hands on her waist. "It sounds perfect. She's our little Laura Luthor-Danvers."

Lena nodded before she looked at Kara sternly. "Danvers-Luthor." she argued.

Kara shook her head, this was going to be a long night of discussing this but she'll be damned if she lost this argument. "Luthor-Danvers." she argued back.

Because to Kara, she knew with an absolute certainty that their little Laura and Lena would redefine what the name meant.

Laura was, after all, the start of a new chapter of their lives, one filled with all the bright possibilities, and of hopes and dreams of the future ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Pt 2: Wohoo! One more chapter to go! I'll try to get that one up by next Saturday or so. It's an epilogue with a Cat Grant POV too, so yeah, fun times ahead. Now for a few notes… okay, fine, a lot…
> 
> 1: Lex, in the comics, really cares about Lena in quite a few incarnations. I've said this before. He even set aside differences with Superman to save her as well as asked him to keep it a secret that they were related (when Lena was using the last name 'Thorul') so that she wouldn't need to live with the shame of being related to him. He even named his daughter Lena! That's why even when I wanted him broken and mad, there's a part of him that struggle against his darker side because he cares about Lena, and he gives up the fight. Also, he figured that that's his best chance of survival at the given moment...
> 
> 2: About Mon-El, in the comics, Supes sends him to the Phantom Zone after being exposed to lead but he eventually finds his way to the 30th century to become a Legionnaire. He's the one the Blight is after when they invade because of his powers (which in this story is still dormant in some way). They're able to keep him alive with constant anti-lead serum dosing in the future.
> 
> 3: The whole naming thing and "So, we're having twins, huh?" ;)
> 
> Sorry, I couldn't resist. But I can't name the baby either of the two (Alura vs Astra), because both mattered to Kara despite how they ended up hurting her in some ways, and it was fitting for twins. I liked Laura because of the anagram and how it fits the Luthor alliteration like I said above
> 
> Easter Eggs on the names for Project 14 (most of whom are alt versions of Supergirl):
> 
> -Alura/Astra: name of Kara's mom and of course of her aunt
> 
> -Martha: I'm sorry, I had to make that BvS joke… it's too hard not to…
> 
> -Ariella (Kent): Supergirl of 853rd century who is later revealed as Linda Danvers' daughter and Silver Age Superman
> 
> -Cir-El: Supergirl who was allegedly the daughter of Superman, created by evil Brainiac
> 
> -Mae/Matrix: protoplasmic life-form based on Lana Lang's DNA and created by a pocket universe Lex post-crisis… she dates a different version of Lex… (*ehem* there's a Super who dated a Luthor in the comics *ehem* … *ehem* last time I checked Mon-El never dated Supergirl in the comics and he's married to Shadow Lass *ehem*)
> 
> -Linda (Danvers): young woman who Matrix saves (in exchange for her life) and becomes Supergirl
> 
> -Linda Lee (Danvers): is the original Supergirl's adopted name on earth… at some point (Modern Age), she is taken in by Lana Lang as her niece… hence she adopts the name Linda Lang… she's also taken the aliases Claire Connors and Kara Kent… and yes, she's different from just Linda above
> 
> -Lori (Luthor): She's Lena's (at least a version of her in the comics and it's complicated history) daughter, Lex's niece, cousin to Lex's daughter who's also named Lena (like I said, complicated, but Lex really did care for Lena… one version of him in the comics…)… and Superboy/Conner's friend
> 
> -Lara: Superman's mom's name (Lara Jor-El), and in Smallville (at the very least) Kara is very fond of her aunt Lara (they were close)… who just happens to be played by former Supergirl and current actress for Eliza Danvers, Helen Slater
> 
> -Laurel Gand: Supergirl for the Legion of Superheroes in the Glorithverse, she's actually a Daxamite and is Lar Gand's (Mon-El/M'Onel/Valor) descendant; she eventually took on the name of Andromeda
> 
> -Galatea: Supergirl clone made by Emil Hamilton in Cadmus (who was evil)… Project 14/Laura's looks is based on hers (she does have green eyes) to make Brainy's comment a few chapters back of 'we don't know if we get Galatea…' more relevant (i.e., if Supergirl died like a few chapters back in the hands of K-Man I and/or they failed to save project 14, well, she would be Galatea)


	30. Kaoshuh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, oh my gosh! We've made it to the end of the road (for now…) and I have to say, it's been one hell of an adventure writing this fic and reading your comments and all. You guys have been amazing readers! The title (Kaoshuh) means 'To Be Continued'. It's what Superman said to Kara when he left in episode 2 of season 2. This chapter spans 6 months.
> 
> That said, sorry for the hiatus. A wave of workload nearly drowned me then I needed some 'me' time. Thanks for those who messaged me about their concerns on how I'm doing with the sudden lengthy wait. It's nice to know that people care :D But for now, here is chapter 30 featuring cute Sanvers, cute Supercorp, cute Laura in between all of it! Plus updates/brief mentions on Kon, A.G.E.N.D.A., and his clone, and the return of Lucy Lane and the one and only Cat Grant (I can't finish this without her, okay? That would be blasphemy!)! Also, the return of the Flash?

"Do you think they have any clue we're just right behind them?" Clark asked after he walked towards the balcony of the DEO with Kate. The two have been talking about business, as usual, with Kate being Batman's sort of representative. On the balcony, Lena and Kara continued to discuss about plans regarding their little girl, who they just decided to name Laura Luthor-Danvers, and how they were going to raise her.

If anyone told Clark that his best friend-turned-nemesis' sister would one day date and raise a child with her cousin from Krypton, he would have straight up laughed at their face because no way in hell would that happen.

And yet here they were.

With a dozen other impossible things already having passed them.

"Maybe we should give them their space right now. I now you're excited to tell your cousin about her official invite to our little circle of trust, but I think there will be time for that later too." Kate then said. "I honestly don't think they've noticed our presence. I mean we can stand here and awkwardly cough or something until they realize we're here but I think they deserve a little bit of time with just each other."

Clark smiled, what Kate said was true. "Sure. I should probably check on Conner, make sure he's doing well."

"Have you told Lois about him yet?"

"I mean, I told her that Cadmus was trying to make their own Superman, I didn't bring up the specifics."

"Why not?" Kate asked with a teasing smile. "Afraid of her reaction?"

"Well, yes. But knowing Lois, nothing fazes her. Honestly, I'm betting she'll want to half take down whatever remains of Cadmus, including A.G.E.N.D.A., to make them pay for their experiments, half find it amusing that... well…"

"That by Krypton's standards, birthing pods and all, you have a child with Lex?" Kate then asked highly amused. "Am I getting that right?"

"Sort off." Clark replied and shook his head. He didn't even want to think about what it meant. His main concern now was Conner, make sure he adjusts to his life accordingly and train him in using his powers. It seemed he had good control of them, true, but training was always necessary, at least just to be on the safe side.

"Go, check on Conner." Kate then said.

"And you?" Clark asked.

"Oh, I can always find something to keep me busy." Kate replied. "For now I think Chinese food and sleep should be good enough." she replied trying to stifle a yawn. Clark nodded in response as Kate excused herself. He shot one last look at his cousin's direction, she was glowing just like the rising sun with quite possibly the best Luthor there ever was.

The storm has passed, a new dawn begins.

And Clark knew theirs was not the story he shared with Lex.

Theirs was a story of new beginnings and love.

* * *

 

It's been three days since the final battle with Cadmus. James would be lying if he said that his body was no longer sore. All he wanted to do was stay in bed all day and just catch up on some sleep, especially now that the madness seemed to have lifted and all that was left was the normal kind of crazy life in the city had to offer.

Despite his yearning to sleep some more, James pushed himself to get to work early that day. He's been back at it for the last three days, acting like nothing was at a miss. Yep, he totally didn't feel like he's been hit by quite a few trucks after being tossed around during his last fight, or at least he tried to convince himself.

He had something to prove, after all...

To Alex who was working tirelessly to find a way to bring her father back to normal. Jeremiah Danvers' signs were stable, which was always a good sign. Even though it still felt like they were at a standstill, being stuck in their current situation with him, James noticed the smile on Alex's face, her fighting spirit stronger than ever. A new fight had begun for her but hope was not waiting.

To Kara who's been currently sucked into the unexpected but still manages to find time to juggle everything. James extends that to Lena as well. He could still remember how the two basically rushed towards Alex's side at the med day the morning after the Cadmus fight and just after Winn called them. Project 14, Laura, was stirring awake and everyone and their mother knew that Kara wouldn't miss meeting her little progeny herself the first time she woke up. It was almost too pure of a moment to even forget for James, seeing Kara reach out to the little blonde girl with kryptonite like eyes who in turn flew into Kara's arms. Lena never looked as happy as she did in that moment as well. It was hard not to smile along to Winn's whispered comment then. "Who would've thought, a Super and a Luthor? One happy family." And now the two were adjusting and finding their footing with their new responsibility of taking care of Laura alongside their day jobs and their 'other' job of working with the DEO. It's been three days, and the newness of everything is ever so clear on Kara's sleep-deprived look in the morning, but nevertheless, they persist.

And lastly, James had much to prove to Cat Grant. One, because Cat was planning to take an extended vacation with Carter after all the craziness finally settling down, with the promise to be back in about six months of course, and James was definitely still the one in charge. Two was that Cat, well, Cat  _knows_  and James most definitely wants to throw her off his scent.

It happened the next day of the big fight. James walked into the office acting like nothing was wrong when he got sucked into an editor's meeting with Cat. The CEO had been eyeing him suspiciously the whole morning before pulling him aside after the meeting to remind him to not overdo it as Guardian otherwise she'd have to appoint someone less competent as acting CEO while she was gone and James most definitely just stared back at her in shock.

"We still need you, Jimmy, so keep up what you do and stay shape, but don't get seriously injured with the heroics." she reminded him just the day before.

"I don't know what you mean, Ms. Grant." James had replied with his best charming smile.

Only to have Cat Grant shaking her head, waking past him. "You and those heroic types."

James wasn't even sure, how, when, how, where, seriously HOW Cat grant figured out, but he knew that wasn't exactly ideal. For now, with the queen of media getting ready for her long vacation, James figured he had time to piece together his act as James Olsen, totally not the masked vigilante Guardian and Pulitzer-prize winning photographer.

James settled on his spot on the rooftop of Catco. The city below was busy and bustling as ever, thankfully no sign of much trouble. Winn was already there playing some new app on his phone while waiting for him.

"You okay there buddy?" James asked as he reached for his own sub from the paper bag of the take-out food Winn had brought.

"Yeah… still miss Mon-El." Winn admitted. "I never realized how much time I ended up spending with him at the DEO, training, playing games, tweaking some super outfits."

"He's in a better place now, Winn." James then replied.

"You make it sound like he's dead."

"Well, I'm assuming the future  _is_  a better place." James countered with a smile. "But hey, I guess that means we'll just have more time with our super duo dynamics now."

"True." Winn replied. "How's the Cat Grant problem?"

"I don't know." James then replied. "But I figure I shouldn't worry about it. Ms. Grant just seems to know about everything and the more I try to convince her otherwise, the more suspicious she'll be."

"Yeah, yeah." Winn agreed, taking a bite of his sandwich. "She totally knows Kara is Supergirl by the way, never bought the whole double thing with the big green man."

"Wha-" James let out, surprised. Winn, on the other hand, was the picture of composure.

"Hey, Kara's not freaking out about it when she told me she knew, so I figure nothing to freak out about. It's like some sort of unspoken secret agreement."

"Do you reckon she knows about Clark?" James asked as he tried to process everything.

"Probably, but you know, who knows?" Winn replied with a smile and James let out a chuckle, because of course,  _of course_ , it just made sense.

The people closest to you always end up finding about your double life anyways.

Cases in point, Clark, Kara, Alex, Kate, and the Earth-1 heroes like Oliver and Barry…

…the list goes on…

James laughed and shook his head as he decided to let things just be.

He figured this was just another day for a masked crime fighter.

* * *

 

"I hope she wasn't much of a bother." Lena said, swinging by the specialized lab at the DEO currently keeping Jeremiah alive. Jeremiah Danvers had been unconscious for three months, some kind of induced coma from what Maggie has gathered from the endless science jargon-filled conversations Alex had with her mother. He's currently on some sort of specialized caseless sleeping pod, almost similar to the one Conner and Laura had been kept in based on what Kara and Lena had both commented in the past. The pod was, of course, designed by Lena in a matter of a week to get everything set-up, especially since they can't wake Jeremiah up. Not until the chips in his head have been removed, a feat proven to be more difficult as they studied the files they managed to retrieve from Cadmus pertaining Jeremiah's surgery.

The lab has been Alex's workspace for the last three months too. Sure, she still went on the field whenever the DEO needed her to be, but her father's case was the more pressing matter for her to deal with and J'onn agreed. With Superman and his friends constantly working alongside the DEO in cracking down A.G.E.N.D.A., and Supergirl, the aptly and officially Cat Grant-named Ms. Martian, and Guardian, along with the assistance of Nightwing and Batwoman from time to time, dealing with the more complex problems the DEO had to contend with, Alex was free to focus her attention in finding a way to save her father. Something that Maggie was definitely getting used to. She already knew how much of a badass agent Alex was, she was enjoying to see the brains behind the operation with her daily visits to the lab.

It helped that Kate and Lena were both true to their words and Alex Danvers essentially had the resources of L-Corp and Wayne Corp's medical and research division to back her up with whatever she needed.

But on to the current reason of Lena's visit, the bubbly little three-year-old who, minutes ago, was contently sitting on Maggie's lap and playing a game with her and who now was taking literal flight into Lena's waiting arms.

"Mommy!" Laura chirruped just as Lena had her securely wrapped in her arms. "I missed you mommy!" she added, burying her face right into the crook of Lena's neck.

"I missed you too angel." Lena murmured pressing a gentle kiss on the crown of golden hair cascading down Laura's cheeks and Maggie just had to smile at the cuteness of it all.

Alex too. "She was no trouble at all. J'onn dropped by earlier to play with her too and I think he's slowly coming over to your request of having Vasquez be her sort of bodyguard for a while. L-Corp plaza seriously still that bad with reporters?"

Lena gave a nod while Maggie couldn't help but smirk. "Come on babe, you and I both know there's always a particular reporter at L-Corp anyways." she joked and Alex simply smiled at her response.

"Oh, but things have escalated to new levels of crazy." Lena sighed, Laura seemingly dozing off in her arms. It wouldn't surprise Maggie if she actually did, the kid was the definition of bottomless energy earlier. She had to let Winn and Vasquez tap in a few times with her and Alex along with J'onn to keep her entertained playing with games and all. From a race with Streaky, to age-appropriate and child friendly video games that Winn had found, to learning the extensive galaxy systems that J'onn knew using some kind of interactive graphics thing that the DEO had, to having a lunch appropriate to Kara's Kryptonian appetite, to accidentally helping the DEO apprehend some kind of alien who tried to escape from their detention cells – something that everyone agreed, including J'onn, that Lena and Kara should not find out because one, Lena would freak out, and two, Kara couldn't keep a secret from Lena even if she tried and Lena freaking out would spell catastrophe to the poor alien whose only crime was to peddle stolen pharmaceutical drugs as some kind of candy to alien kids who can actually metabolize said drugs – yep, Laura had quite the day.

Maggie's thoughts were interrupted by a deep sigh from Alex. "You know, I'm sure Winn's offer in helping figure out which L-Corp employee leaked that photo of you, Kara, and Laura, having dinner at your office still stands."

"That's fine, I have that handled." Lena replied. "Besides, the press has nothing much on Laura and the whole image was quickly pulled from print. I'm glad Winn figured out a way to shut down sites that sparked chatter about Laura too. I just don't think raising her front and center in the press will be the best idea right now. It has to be done right."

"I kinda agree, especially since you've just gone public with your relationship with Kara." Maggie noted. "I feel for you Luthor." she added as she gathered Laura's toys and placed it in her bag before handing it to Lena.

Lena simply smiled and shrugged. "I'm used to my life being made into media fodder. But things  _have_  changed and, God, I've never felt this scared of people finding out about the secrets I keep. I'm hoping the whole relationship frenzy dies down eventually."

"Look at it this way, at least the Luthor name isn't in the press for some whacky evil scheme this time." Maggie pointed out.

"True, but I have a feeling that Lena would rather the Luthor name be out of the press entirely right now." Alex then said and Lena once again nodded.

"Thanks again, you two." Lena then said. "I honestly don't know what Kara and I will do without you."

"Well, you know what they say, it takes a village…" Maggie replied.

"Yeah, in this case we're lucky the village is the DEO." Lena then said with a chuckle.

Alex laughed with that reply. "Don't worry about it Lena. Laura's family. Besides, the little tyke's my favorite."

"Yeah? Good, because it seems to me that you're her favorite aunt." Lena replied before leaving with a smile.

Alex shook her head with a smile. "Well, I guess I have that over Kate." she then said towards Maggie with a wink which made Maggie laugh. "How is she by the way?"

"Probably okay. I haven't heard from her in a while. She did say she currently has her hands full."

"Can't believe she moved back to Gotham." Alex complained.

"Are you actually missing Kate?" Maggie asked with a chuckle as she walked towards Alex, wrapping her arms around her from behind and resting her chin on her shoulders.

"I kind of? I mean, I know she visits us a lot, but I don't know, we're almost kind of kindred spirits."

Maggie laughed. That was something she never thought she'd heard from Alex. But kindred spirits or not she was just glad that Alex had her own path. Kate was right, she was a part of the night while Alex lived in the light. They were two different sides of the same coin.

"And what are you thinking about?" Alex then asked, resting her hands on top of Maggie's hands and turning just the slightest to place a peck on her cheeks.

"Oh, nothing much." Maggie replied with a smile. "But whoever thought you and Kate Kane would end up being friends? I'm pretty sure months ago you were ready to charge her with anything just to hold her here in a DEO cell."

"I would've found a way if things turned out differently." Alex replied with a smile as she turned around to face Maggie, resting her forehead on hers.

"She would've escaped the cell." Maggie then pointed out.

"She would've escaped the cell." Alex then nodded and agreed, with that adorable dork smile of her, that crinkle on her nose when she does wasn't helping Maggie and how smitten she already was with her. She tucked a few strands of hair behind Alex's ears as she pulled back by just the slightest to smile at her girlfriend, a content sigh escaping her lips.

Alex seemed to return the gesture. "But then again, we don't really know all the might-have-beens. I mean, whoever though we'd be here right now?" Alex asked with a dreamy smile.

"Yeah, baby-sitting a half-Kryptonian with the energy of ten toddlers and the stamina of ten trained DEO agents was never really part of my plans in wooing you – " Maggie started to say as a reply before Alex looked at her incredulously, shaking her head as she cut her off.

"Um, I believe I was the one that wooed you and you turned me down." Alex recalled.

Not that Alex enjoyed reminiscing that part of the past, Maggie could tell.

She wasn't blind to the pain she caused Alex because of her own fears and uncertainties.

But she felt that pain too. Maybe even twice as much for hurting Alex the way she did.

Because it had been torture for her too. To want something, yearn  _someone_ , always within your reach but you could never really touch, never really hold the way you wanted to.

She loved Alex before she could even realize it. Her heart craved her before her mind could even catch up that it shook her to her core, paralyzing her in the instant it all connected in her subconscious mind.

Because just when she least expected it, in came a DEO agent who knew no fear, strutting into her crime scene under the bright yellow sun, claiming the airport tarmac as her jurisdiction, not the NCPD's.

Maggie laughed. Those days felt so far away now. "Yeah, I was an idiot." she chuckled. "But hey, people say love makes you do stupid things sometimes." she shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad to know that you love me." Alex then said in a whisper, pulling Maggie closer, their lips brushing gently against each other making Maggie's heart ache a little.

Because she wanted more.

She  _always_  wanted more of Alex. Really, she couldn't get enough it.

And she would always thank the stars above that whatever force it was – fate, destiny, whatever – brought them together.

And when Alex pulled away by even just an inch, Maggie could feel her heart chasing after her.

Because she could never quite get enough of how full her heart felt with her and how her life had changed since meeting her.

Alien sisters, nieces, and all.

"I love you too." Alex smiled back before pressing a quick kiss on Maggie's lips and pulling back quickly, looking rather thoughtful.

"What?" Maggie then asked.

"You still owe me that beer." Alex said, removing her lab coat.

"What beer?" Maggie then asked thoroughly confused.

"Oh, you know, the night you broke my heart and all. I mean Chinese food and everything else that was your treat, they were amazing and all, but I believe you said you'd owe me beer if I came out to Kara and we never really had that. You know, just the two of us."

Maggie shook her head and laughed. "Well then, we can't have that, now, can we?"

Alex shook her head too. "No we can't." she replied.

Maggie led the way, hanging back just outside the lab for Alex who was saying goodnight to her father. She wasn't sure if he could hear her the way he was now, but she liked to see it on Alex. To see the hope.

And when Alex finally walked out, reaching for the comfort of Maggie's hand as they walked out of the building, Maggie just couldn't help but stare.

She never expected to fall fast and hard and oh so inevitably every single day of her life with Alex Danvers.

* * *

 

"Don't worry about it Lena, Laura's fine and – Laura, Laura no. I told you that you're not allowed to heat-vision your dinner if you don't like it – I'm guessing Kara's still spoiling her with her special Kryptonian diet of junk foods?" Alex all but narrated through the telephone, punctuating her question with a sigh.

"Did she burn through the plate again?" Lena asked, biting her lips as she leaned against her desk, her back to her faintly lit office as she looked over the National City skyline.

"No, don't worry about it. Winn gifted us all with those specialized heat-vision-resistant plates for Laura's visits. Even painted her favorite Disney princesses on the plates for her."

"Remind me to urge J'onn to give Winn a raise." Lena then noted. "Or at least let him make me donate some kind of funding for whatever it is that Winn works on with regards to the super heroics of our beloved special girls." Lena then offered, all while her eyes were trying to fix on the familiar red blur of Kara's red cape coming from the distance. She watched as Supergirl swerved on the last minute instead of directly zooming into L-Corp.

"Kara's back. I'll give you a call later when we're settled back home." Lena then said.

"No worries." Alex replied. "And don't worry about Laura, Maggie and I can tuck her in tonight and you can pick her up in the morning. God knows you and Kara need some alone time every now and then."

"Thanks Alex." Lena then said with a reply before lingering a few seconds longer on her side of the line after Alex reassured her it was no big problem.

And Alex, with her amazing sisterly sixth sense or something, quickly picked up on what Lena was thinking. "Don't worry about it L, if it was too dangerous you know I'd suit up and be right where Kara was. Clark reassured the whole business with Westfield's daughter and her group was being taken care of with the help of the pros. Besides, Conner's with them too. And his friends."

"I know. And I know Kara's got a whole  _league_  she's working with right now, but I just can't help but worry."

"We did the background research Lena, and Kate's with her too. You trust her with Kara."

"And shockingly you too." Lena noted.

"Well, she found her when she needed to." Alex reasoned and Lena nodded remembering how she was standing on almost the exact same spot where Kate dropped her act and shed her mask to gain her trust, to bet on her. "Just enjoy the night off. You need it with the press and L-Corp constantly keeping you on your toes, and Kara needs it for sure with her incredibly long day."

Lena nodded as Alex's words sunk in, not that Alex could see it. But it did make her feel better, even just by a little bit.

My, how the days have gone by.

"Thanks Alex. We'll call you later." Lena then said with a nod and a light smile. They got through an alien invasion, all the horrific scientific nonsense with Cadmus, they got through her mother and Westfield and Lex. That's why she knew she could get through beating A.G.E.N.D.A. too.

After all, they were all  _stronger together_.

Still, she couldn't help but worry with all the oh- so-many times that Kara came too close to meeting  _Rao_  or her maker.

It didn't help that the first time Conner met his match, who was literally calling himself Match what with being an imperfect clone of his, he came home all bloody and bruised.

Lena knew she kind of went a little too overboard with checking in on him a few days later but when Kara reassured her that Conner would be fine going back to his new found team of young heroes and resuming his training back in Smallville, she let her soothe her nerves and believed her.

Worrying for one Super was tough, worrying for three was even harder, so Lena decided to have faith in Kara's words whenever she could.

It's was just all part of it really.

And Lena knew and understood now what all those moments that she saw in movies meant, the ones she loved and hated, the ones where she would try to make it work with her logic on why love simply doesn't make sense. She understood now why it was hard to love a hero, or at least someone with a hero's heart.

Because it was hard to let them go.

She didn't hate the sound of the door closing behind Kara, no. She was a little annoyed, sure, whenever they have to part. But it wasn't that.

She grew to hate the sound of the window being opened when it's late at night and Kara could hear someone crying out for her help somewhere.

She hated the cold breeze that followed, the  _swooshing_ sound that came with it.

And oh God, did she hate the dread. The painfully long hours she couldn't always fill with work or taking care of Laura because there are some days when Kara's up against bigger threats than the usual crook in National City. She hated the abhorrent ticking sound of the clock that counted each passing second that Kara wasn't back safe and sound. Especially when she's been gone for a good twenty five hours, thirty eight minutes, and twelve seconds – not that Lena was counting or anything – just like she was now.

But she did love her return.

The relief washing over her when she finally hears Kara's return. When she hears the light thud of her landing on the balcony outside of her office or her penthouse or the insides of Kara's bedroom.

For now, though, Lena settled for the sound of her door opening revealing Kara's sweet smile, her glasses hanging askew – no doubt she rushed to put them on – one hand in the pocket of her hands and the other holding freshly picked flowers from that garden Kara took her once, no doubt.

Where else would she get the assortment of lilacs and plumerias?

"You almost went straight here through the balcony again." Lena then noted.

"I know, I know." Kara said in her defense as she walked towards Lena, placing a plumeria over her left ear. "I was just excited to be home already." Kara beamed. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Lena replied with a smile. Kara leaned in for a kiss on the lips but missed as Lena pulled away, she wasn't going to get off the hook that easy.

Mostly because no matter how smart Kara was, she tended to forget about things that she should care about at times but deem too inconsequential for whatever was on her mind at that moment.

Namely seeing Lena.

"Lee, it's been three months." Kara pouted. Technically, it's been five months, because Lena always considered the first two months they had Laura in peace and their relationship wasn't on the front pages of every single gossip and tabloid magazines just as equally nerve-wracking.

She never had a family before, after all.

After the whole fiasco that was the leaked picture, Lena believed it was best that she and Kara made their relationship public, that way she could control the press. It's not that they were doing interviews on a daily basis, nope. That privilege was reserved for the one and only Cat Grant, the queen of all media calling Kara as soon as she caught wind of the existence of Laura and the rumors about their relationship to handle answering the oh so pressing questions everyone had. At the very least, answering them in a safe environment with a person they trusted and knew wouldn't twist their words was important in addressing these queries and satisfying public curiosity before said public took matters into their own hands. Questions like how they met, when they started dating, was Laura Lena's secret daughter or Kara's or did they adopt? Are wedding bells on the way? Are they moving too fast? All of those already popping up everywhere, sparking discussion that Lena didn't really want to deal with.

And the whole thing, though it had slowly become part of their norm, just kept on escalating when people started to question the integrity of Kara's articles on L-Corp, which James thankfully made a statement to address that as soon as they started to become more than just friends, Kara was put on different stories and articles and that Catco remained unbiased; that the relationship with one of their reporters with the CEO of L-Corp was a private matter that they won't allow to influence their continuous pursuit of the truth.

Cat conducted the interview and wrote the article itself. They talked about how they were first friends and their relationship blossomed into something more as they got to know each other. That Laura was indeed their daughter, and with Lena having to arrange the legalities and paper works for Laura, the story they were going for was that she was adopted. While they kept mum on how they found Laura, it was't hard to believe that they would want to adopt since they were adopted as well. For that matter, Lena didn't bother bringing up the fact that she was indeed a Luthor. Some things were best left to be kept hidden from the public's eyes.

But other than that, and the fact that Lena officially brought Kara to one of her galas as her date to make it official, it was all the public got. Luckily, Winn, forever expert on matters electronic, and James, current acting CEO of Catco, took over control of all of Kara's social media accounts and managed to make sure that first, they weren't hacked by people dying to know more, and second, that the public would be placated with an occasional picture of the cute couple everyone was obsessing about.

The whole problem with the press didn't improve though when Kara, dressed as Supergirl, landed on the balcony of Lena's office after a particularly long day to check on her before heading to the DEO for a debrief. They merely chatted, but a copter for some news channel caught sight of them having a seemingly intimate conversation and one thing led to another…

…and well, now there's apparently something called a shipping war between people who wanted Lena to be with Kara because they thought they were a cute couple to begin with and the people who wanted Lena to be with Supergirl because of the whole epic love affair what with their supposed warring houses.

And in truth, every time she thought about it made her head hurt a little. All she needed to do was rub her temple and Kara knew the endless running stream of thoughts she was having.

"Hey," Kara said, cupping her chin and gently lifting it up so that Lena had no choice but to stare at those longing blue eyes looking deeply back into hers. "Things will die down, I promise. Cat's coming back soon and we can get a few things straight with the public too with the whole balcony fiasco. Hopefully that should help get rid of some rumors."

"Or start new ones." Lena noted. "And even when that happens…"

"What are you thinking about now?" Kara asked looking at her adoringly. "If it's about Jess, I don't think she'll pry. I know, I've seen the looks she's been giving Laura whenever she's here with you. But people can't help but be curious. She doesn't seem to be prying and, if I remember correctly, she chastised your other secretaries and even department heads for gossiping. If it's about us… well, we can weather any storm together, I promise you that."

"I'm sorry." Lena then said, resting her head on Kara's chest as her one and only Supergirl wrapped her hands around her. She missed those strong arms. It's been a day that Kara was gone and to Lena it felt like an eternity apart. "I guess it's just that none of this was ever in my plans. Don't get me wrong Kara, you and Laura, you've been the best surprise of my life. But I guess I never really thought that the fighting will continue even after Cadmus was gone. That all kinds of hell can still rain down on us."

Kara hummed in response. "I think that's why we should just enjoy this quiet little moments we have." she replied, pressing her lips on top of Lena's dark crown. "How's Laura?"

"At Alex and Maggie's raising hell against vegetables." Lena replied. "How's Conner? The whole mission?"

"Kon's fine. He's enjoying himself with his friends and truth be told, I'm a little jealous of how he and Kal bonds lately. He's there being a mentor to our Superboy." Kara replied sounding rather thoughtful. "As for the mission, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to not talk about it until tomorrow. I kind of just want to spend tonight being with you."

Lena nodded pulling away to find Kara smiling back at her with all the warmth in the world. "So how about we go home?" she then proposed expecting a brighter smile from Kara because nothing screams like a perfect date night for the Kryptonian other than potstickers, PJs, pillow forts, and endless movies with Lena.

Except Kara didn't give her that bright smile. Instead she was met with a nervous lip bite, a gentle tug of a grin at the corners of Kara's lips. She looked tense. Very tense to be in fact, and seemingly excited too.

"About that…" Kara started to say, taking a few steps back from Lena as she started to fidget a little, her fingers nervously tracing the hems of her sweater whenever she tried to stop lacing her fingers together or adjust her glasses.

"Kara, what is it? Is it a water leak? I thought you already fixed the pipe that Laura accidentally broke in the kitchen?" Lena asked, trying to guess at what's running in Kara's mind right now. "Because I know we planned to stay at your apartment tonight but we can always –" she went on before Kara shook her head to cut in.

"No it's not that. It's just… do you trust me?" Kara asked and Lena had to laugh in response.

"It would be the understatement of the century to say I do, love." Lena replied, sounding a little nervous herself. Kara's fidgeting was starting to get her nervous as well.

But then Kara smiled that bright smile she was waiting for and it all felt right again. She heaved a heavy sigh, briefly casting her eyes down before looking up at Lena once more. "Cool. Good. Great. Because we kind of have a bit of a detour for tonight." Kara then said, leaving Lena a whole lot confused with what on earth was happening.

It was strange to say, but Lena felt even more nervous than when Kara took her flying for the first time during the whole drive to where they needed to go. She wanted to partly blame it to the fact that Kara insisted on driving her car and Kara, when excited, sometimes forget what speed limits are there for a reason.

But she couldn't do that, mostly because Kara drove under the speed limit and Lena couldn't really find anything to complain about other than the usually bubbly reporter being too stiff and silent. She's never seen Kara this nervous.

Making her all the more nervous as well.

Lena's mind went to Conner first – she'd worry about Laura but she was dead sure that Alex won't let a fly near her precious girl without the fly suffering some serious consequences, so Laura was off the list – and then to a possible news about Lex who had been radio silent in his prison cell as of late. Her thoughts jumped from one scenario to another constantly, from Kara telling her some form of terrible news, to possible finding more clones, to the even scarier thought of Kara proposing – because yes it did terrify Lena, in a good way, but terrified her still – because can she even do that? Do normal? Have a normal happy life with Kara when every other week she's off to save the world from some major catastrophe and Lena's busy trying to fend off the wolves trying to overtake her company all while continuously building L-Corp's own legacy on the good they could do for others.

Lena knew without a shadow of a doubt that the answer to that question would still be yes, especially to the one question pertaining to their future. However, she still wanted to let the dust settle and maybe have some sense of normalcy that was akin to ordinary human beings.

Kara eventually pulled up near some fancy looking building just halfway through Lena's apartment and Kara's own flat, not to mention it was also near National City's wonderful beaches. It was that side of town where prime property met rent-controlled places for sure, with apartments fit for reasonably paid members of society, the upper middle class mostly mixed with wealthy entrepreneurs looking to invest in some real estate.

Lena wanted to ask Kara what on earth they were doing there but failed to do so as Kara practically jumped out of her seat to get out of the car only to reign herself in as she walked over to Lena's side of the door, trying her best to remain calm.

They made their way up the building until they reached the top floor that led to a three story high watchtower in the middle of what seemed to be a residence building. They walked in silence towards the main door of the tower. Lena could practically hear Kara's heartbeat pounding out of her chest as her hands shook, fishing for a set of keys in her pocket.

Kara had a key to the place.

And in some fuzzy part of her brain, Lena was slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

As they stepped inside, Lena took in the sight of the place. It was a penthouse suite built inside the watchtower. The face of the clock before her seemed to be made with a one way mirror, allowing them to see the outside and letting in the pale moonlight from the outside.

Lena took a few steps towards the middle of the flat. The place looked empty except for a few tea candles scattered here and there that Kara lit with her heat-vision. "That's an abuse of power." Lena noted.

"No, it isn't." Kara quickly replied.

The area they were standing in looked like it could be an open living room, to one side she could make out the kitchen island, the cupboards, the sink and a gaping space for a fridge. She did a quick turn and noted the wide open space that reminded her of Kara's place. There were plenty of windows too, to let both the sun- and moonlight in. The side of the wall with the face of the clock had exposed brick walls just like in Kara's apartment but the rest looked more like the pure white walls of her place. To one side was a tiny hallway leading to someplace else, with a set of stairs just to the right of the hallway leading up somewhere. On the other was a small little cut out room with a glass doors leading to a tiny balcony surrounding the room. To the left of it, Lena spotted another set of glass doors leading to a sun deck.

"Sun deck, a tiny room that the previous owner used for painting, which let's face it, I'd put to good use. To the other side is a study and a powder room and the first Master's bedroom which could be used as a guest room." Kara then said just as Lena looked up, catching her words as she admired the small open area above her that let her see a bit of the second floor.

" _You'd_  put to good use?" Lena asked, a smile curling on her lips before turning to face a bashful looking Kara, catching her comment on the tiny cut out room.

Kara simply shrugged in response. "There's a good amount of space on the second-floor landing that I think could be some sort of mini-library and family room. And um… there are two more bedrooms upstairs which could be Laura's room and a spare guest room for now… oh, almost forgot, there's a bigger Master's bedroom on the second floor too. Then, uh, there's a ladder leaning to one side leading up the dome-shaped third floor which is kind of like this huge solarium. The previous owner even left a telescope for the next one."

"The next one?" Lena asked, putting two and two together. "Kara, did you buy this place?"

"Well, I do have a good amount of bonus paychecks from being Cat's one and only longstanding secretary, and, contrary to popular belief, I do have a good amount saved up. I know I spend a lot on potstickers but when you're a valued costumer, you get every third order free." Kara then said proudly, making Lena laugh a little. Kara shook her head and let out a bit of a chuckle before she settled more into a gentle smile. "And technically speaking, it's  _our_  place if we want it."

" _Our_ place?" Lena repeated sounding a little bit speechless.

Because there goes Kara Danvers, asking her to move in together by buying a place that had a bit of both of them and their asthetics. And Kate accused her of being over the top extra and dramatic.

Kara gave a little nod as she walked towards Lena with a second set of keys, reaching out for her hands and placing them in her palms. Lena kept her eyes on Kara the entire time, her fingers wrapping around the set of keys that had a Catco keychain on it. Her eyes briefly flashed towards the counter that had Kara's set of keys and noticed for the first time the L-Corp keychain on it that Kara had masterfully concealed on their way in.

"So, who do I thank as your accomplice for this?"

"Oh, this one's totally just me. Do you really think Alex would be any help with this? She'd be too busy trying to figure out security logistics for the place or something. She did that when I first moved into my apartment. Kate won't go two seconds without teasing either. Kal and James and Winn would be cautious about everything, from the pace of our relationship to our potential neighbors."

"Yeah, but you couldn't have done this alone." Lena noted. "I mean, thought of it, yes. But find the perfect place, go through a checklist, make sure you're not being sweet talked into a bad deal, and that you have everything settled with all your reporter and Supergirl duties on top of that?" she teased, quirking an eyebrow at Kara as she placed her hands around her girlfriend.

Kara hummed. "Fine, Eliza helped me iron a few things out. Plus the place really is nice. There are a few projects we can do, like repainting and remodeling areas to make it feel more a bit of both of us. Kon saw the place too during his last visit and gave it his approval." she replied as she wrapped her hands around Lena.

"Kon's last visit was almost a month ago." Lena then noted.

"Well, I'm quite the planner." Kara then beamed. "So, I take it this is a yes?" she then asked sounding a bit meek and hopeful.

Lena shook her head and laughed.

Yes, none of this was ever in the plans. Not with her past. Not with her life. And yet, here she was, with Kara as her future, the Kryptonian's eyes shining brighter than the stars of dozens of galaxies.

If anyone had told her the missing half of her would literally fall out of the sky, Lena would have scoffed.

If anyone would have even suggested the possibility that she would fall in love with Krypton's own shining daughter, she would have said they were insane.

But perhaps, the best things come in the most unexpected of ways.

And did Lena think that the day she passed up her chance to fly aboard the venture and met Kara that this would be where they were heading? Well, a part of her was hopeful to have Kara the one dream she could have come true. But to this extent? Lena had convinced herself since day one that it would be impossible. And yet the two of them were now standing in the middle of their new living room together, Lena's heart swelling with the way the humble lights of the candles lighted Kara's face, the gentle glow her smile held taking every breath away… the universe couldn't even hold a match to her, the daughter of the stars above. Because no light could ever look more beautiful, no, not in the way they shone in Kara's eyes.

She had found her home.

"Yes, Kara. Yes." Lena then said, the purest of happiness spreading a warmth within her as Kara's megawatt smile grew even brighter. She felt Kara's lips press gently against her as she pulled Lena even closer and before she knew it she could feel the two of them floating a few feet up.

"You bought the place so we can do this, didn't you?" Lena then teased, pulling back a little.

"I might've had a few ulterior motives." Kara admitted before pulling Lena back into a deep kiss.

And Lena sighed.

Because with Kara, she was truly home.

* * *

 

Jess didn't ever realize that she would soon find herself in a rather interesting predicament, with the predicament watching over Laura for the next few minutes as Lena wrapped up a meeting in her office that was technically going ten minutes late. Kara came in a rush to drop off the most adorable three year old for Lena to watch over. In her usual Kara-fashion, the reporter mumbled on and on about how it was technically her day off, something she never used to take but started taking now that they have Laura, but then something came up and her sister and her sister's girlfriend were busy, and so was the cute and nerdy friend of hers who Jess met during one of Lena's galas, and if Kara was busy, James Olsen was most definitely busy, and just no one was free to take care of Laura but she figured that since Lena was planning to meet them soon for ice cream that she could just drop her off at the office and that she already left the CEO a message in advance in case she was busy.

Yep, sometimes Jess wonders how Kara can function with the incessant ramblings, really, but she did find it rather adorable. And perhaps, Jess dared think, it was one of the things about her that had completely won over her boss.

But nevertheless, the urgency in her tone and voice told Jess that whatever it was that Kara needed to deal with must be important. "I can watch over her if you like, Ms. Luthor should be free soon. Five minutes tops. If you say she was going to meet you after this anyways, I'm pretty sure she'd be speeding things up in there too." Jess had offered. Sure, she's seen Laura around, but she mostly stayed and played in the adjacent room to Lena's office, her now sort of play room area, on days when Lena wasn't too busy and could look after her herself.

On somedays she came with the package of someone Jess guessed had some military background, a woman with a round face and short cropped hair who she thinks Lena addressed as Agent Vasquez on one occasion.

Kara had seemed reluctant at first, making Jess feel a little bit nervous and scared for her job – because to say that Lena was very protective of her daughter would be the understatement of the century – but Kara soon found herself smiling at Jess, making her feel a little less antsy.

And that's how Jess found herself sitting behind her desk with Laura on her lap. The little angel, as Lena often called her, was well-behaved so far, minding her business with an aged brown teddy bear she was calling Mr. Cuddles. She glanced over Laura every now and then while sorting the files on her computer with one hand on the mouse and another holding Laura secure. After closing the last of her files, all that was left was her Twitter feed, something she felt she needed to be constantly up so she could keep an eye on mentions about Lena, Kara, Supergirl, or L-Corp – things that mattered most to Lena or of particular interest, especially with the media frenzy of the last six months, from Lex's and Lillian's imprisonments to Lena's personal life. She did this to always be alert and help Lena out as soon as something of note happened.

She does her best to help her hardworking boss however way she can.

"Mama and mommy! Mama and mommy!" Laura then gleefully mumbled as soon as a picture of Lena and Kara popped up on her feed. It was on the official twitter account of one James Olsen though, something about game night with friends showing Lena and Kara having fun with the nerdy guy, Alex Danvers, her girlfriend, a few othe rpeople Jess failed to recognize that couldn't all fit in the picture, and that Mike guy that used to hang around Kara. The picture all complete with a '#tbt'.

"Yes sweet girl. They're as adorable as you are." Jess replied. Strangely enough, other than the usual Kara-esque beaming smile she usually gets from Laura, this was the first time they ever spoke to each other.

And true enough, Laura beamed at her with an even more adorable smile reminding Jess of Kara by a whole lot.

Which is actually something she's always thought about every time she saw Laura.

The three year old looked a whole lot like Kara most of the times. But it was her eyes, her green eyes that showed Lena through and through that caused most of her curiousity.

Not to mention that even though she was bubbly and spirited like Kara, she was also rather well-mannered and sometimes reserved, as if she's channeling Lena.

So yeah, Jess understood the rumors. The curious wonderings of the masses. Because one look and anyone could believe that Laura was indeed Lena's own flesh and blood. Or Kara's. Or both.

Seriously, it's like one of them had a secret three year old because if Jess remembers correctly, and she does, Laura sort of just popped up in Kara's arms after the whole Lex-incident with Lena.

And honestly, a part of her – the part who doesn't know she actually guessed right – would think that Lex had something to do with Laura's inception, and that she was indeed, both Kara's and Lena's.

But for now – and she knows this to be true because she helped Lena get the legalities settled – she was their adopted child.

Really, Jess just doesn't want to think about that. She doesn't like remembering. She was lucky Supergirl saved her, lucky that Kara's nerdy friend worked with the agency Supergirl was working with and they helped her get over the traumatic experience of it. And of course, she was lucky that Lena was possibly the kindest boss in the world, having experienced things Jess couldn't possibly imagine after her brother abducted her. She insisted Jess take a long paid vacation to clear her mind and de-stress and all, but Jess wanted to emulate her boss' strength and declined.

It was reassuring that Supergirl came by a lot after the whole ordeal to check on Lena, and sometimes Jess, and even Laura – although what Supergirl's intention with the little girl was, Jess wasn't sure of, perhaps brownie points with Lena?

Reassuring or not though, Supergirl's presence didn't help the media circus that followed, something that made Jess reaffirm her decision of not leaving on that paid vacation because now more than ever, Lena needed her most capable assistant. Now, she liked Supergirl, she was thankful she kept saving their lives, Lena's in particular, but at the end of the day, Kara was her champion. Because Jess doubted that no matter how many times the Girl of Steel swooped in and saved Lena's life, Kara was the only one Jess knew who could make her smile effortlessly.

She was the one who offered her normal.

She was the one who let her be just who she was, Lena.

And yes, Jess knows, she shouldn't pry. She shouldn't even be wondering about the pace of their relationship because truth be told Kara was like heaven sent to Lena – Jess would know, she's been one of Lena's oldest assistants in that she moved from Metropolis to National City to keep being her assistant – who never knew how to just be and live because work was the most important thing for her. But my, things are definitely serious between the two! They've already even moved in together, albeit after adopting a child together roughly a month after getting together.

But who was she to question love, really?

A news soon popped up on her feed regarding Supergirl stopping a bank robbery on Main on the way to assist rescue missions on a train crash before the whole social media site erupted with all things Supergirl and pictures of her super heroics.

"Mama!" Laura grinned as she said once more, her voice sounding rather excited.

Before Jess could even catch up to Laura's ramblings as she jumped on her lap, Jess saw Lena walk out the door with the Chinese businessmen she had the meeting with, ushering all of them out.

"Laura?" Lena asked as she turned to return to her office, sounding surprised to see her little girl with Jess. She quickly looked around, as if to search for Kara or some other familiar face before turning to Jess with a questioning glance. She walked the distance between her office door and Jess' desk to take Laura in her own arms as Jess scrambled her way into remembering words –  _because oh God, what if she's mad that I'm the only one watching her precious girl, she's never entrusted her to me before… oh dear, what if she thinks I'm unqualified to do so, what if she finds a scratch on Laura and thinks it's me… kids get scrapes and stuff from playing right? Oh God, oh God, oh God –_ before she finally cleared her throat and explained.

"Kara said she had some sort of emergency to deal with, possibly work related?" Jess replied, sounding incredibly unsure.

Lena simply nodded as Laura jumped into her arms, still clutching on to Mr. Cuddles.

"Mommy! Mama said ice cream!" Laura then said.

"Yes my little angel, we can go grab ice cream." Lena replied with a smile, a lightness in her tone that Jess really only hears when Lena was speaking to Kara or Laura or talking about the two. She turned to smile to Jess too, "Thank you so much, Jess. I'm sorry the meeting took longer than expected. She wasn't much of a trouble was she?" Lena asked sounding  _very_  concerned and nervous about something.

Jess simply looked at her curiously, unsure about what it was that seemed to get her boss a little antsy but she let it pass. She was just probably concerned of Laura. "No, she's the perfect angel." Jess then said in response to Lena's question.

Lena let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Now, would you like to join us for ice cream?" Lena asked Jess before turning to Laura, "What do you say angel? Shall we invite Jess?"

Laura nodded with an excited smile. "Only if she gets choco ice cream."

"I can get that." Jess replied.

"Just be careful, she's going to try and steal that away from you." Lena then told Jess while she made her way around her desk, sending a quick message to Ethan to make sure that someone's manning the desk. Jess looked up at Lena with a questioning glance, this time more amused about how easy and free, and  _happy_ she seemed to be.

And Jess had to admit, she was glad that Lena truly was, especially with the year they've had.

* * *

 

Cat Grant commands every room she enters, every person in them, and the whole situation that surrounds them. She just had that kind of presence about her.

But now Cat finds that someone has beaten her in her own game. Now someone just seemed to have even more presence than she did, had a certain  _it_  that Cat just couldn't place a finger on.

She had returned to her office that morning after six months of touring the globe, visiting Adam, and then vacationing with Carter along the way. And my, did the world miss her absence! An hour back behind the desk and the rest of the year was quickly filled with galas and events, of interviews and functions. The interview with Kara and Lena was set towards the end of the week, for example, and Kate Kane had allowed her an exclusive regarding the expansion of her family's company and their latest projects. Bruce Wayne was throwing another gala for the Wayne Foundation in the fall, Cat having had a personal invite herself through a phone call. This time he promised to come himself while extending another invite to attend one of his parties for  _The Daily Planet's_ anniversary.

James was also trying to minimize contact with her as best he could, Cat guessed that he was probably afraid of slipping and incriminating himself even more as Guardian. Snapper was currently breathing down on all his other reporters, despite most of them wanting to go to lunch soon.

However, Snapper was easing up on Kara with her deadlines, at least during around the time she leaves for lunch, because apparently Kara always sees Lena and their precious adopted daughter so that they could have lunch together. It was entirely too sweet, something that Snapper wasn't particularly fond of.

But apparently Snapper was fond of Laura.

Cat was biting on the temple tip of her glasses, as her eyes zoomed in on the little girl of three or so, running up to Kara with a skip in her step, Lena walking swiftly behind her daughter. Everyone looked at the little girl with pure adoration, even Snapper Carr who was standing next to Kara while reminding her a few things.

Yep, Cat met her match in a toddler.

Which made her only want to meet the rather curious Laura Luthor-Danvers herself even more.

Cat made her way around her desk, keeping her eyes on the whole interaction she could watch through the glass doors of her office. Kara was crouched down next to her daughter, keeping Laura steady with her hands around her, Lena right behind the two blonde girls smiling lovingly at them.

"Have fun on your lunch ponytail, but be sure to get me your draft before you leave this afternoon." Snapper then said with a mellow voice, something that just does not suit him.

"Snapper Carr not snapping at someone, I honestly thought I'd ever see the day." Cat noted as she walked towards them. "Nice to see you around, Lena, should I expect to see you more often? Maybe we can have some kind of Friday girl's afternoon scheduled once in a while."

Lena simply nodded as if considering the offer. Kara simply chuckled and Snapper started mumbling something incomprehensible in response to what she had commented earlier before he turned and left for his office.

"And this little girl must be your daughter." Cat went on.

"Hi!" Laura beamed with excitement as she waived her hands at Cat, excited to meet her too.

The brilliant smile didn't distract her though, no. It only made things so much more obvious. The smile was Kara, but her eyes was Lena, even with the way they sparkle. "My, my, if I didn't know any better I would say she's the spitting image of the two of you." she then let slip.

"Ah, um… thanks, Ms. Grant." Kara replied, picking up her daughter and handing her back to Lena just as the little girl started to stare at Cat with genuine curiosity and dare she say what could be admiration? The comment, though, definitely got Kara a little nervous and so did Lena. "I'll meet you two downstairs, I remember I just need to ask Ms. Grant something." Kara then excused.

Lena simply nodded. "Say bye-bye to Ms. Grant sweetie." she whispered to Laura.

"Bye-bye Ms. Grant!" Laura then repeated earnestly.

"Oh none of that Ms. Grant nonsense. I'm Aunt Cat." Cat then said finding herself starting to warm up to the thought of having Laura running around Catco.

It was then Kara and Lena turned to look rather confused at Cat, but Lena nevertheless corrected the error and within a minute Laura was saying goodbye to her newly proclaimed favorite 'Auntie Cat' – no, really, she said that she was her new favorite – and 'Uncle Snappy' as Snapper walked by, before turning to ask Lena where 'Uncle Jimmy' was.

Once the two were within an elevator heading down to catch Uncle Jimmy in the lobby, Cat turned her attention to Kara. "I have to say I'm impressed you're doing a fine job juggling everything. They say it takes a village and all, you know?"

"Oh I do, Ms. Grant." Kara then said with a deep breath. "I'm very much thankful to my  _village_."

Cat nodded in response, her eyes still lingering by the elevators. "Should I even ask…?" she then asked, turning her attention to Kara, making it clear that she was pertaining to Laura and the unspoken question about her.

About why she looked so much like Lena and Kara.

Or for that matter, Cat's own curiosity if Laura was essentially Girl of Steel junior.

Kara simply shook her head, looking very much stiff and tense about it and Cat decided to let it go.

Just one more things she's going to have to pretend she doesn't know.

Cat gave a nod. "Do enjoy your lunch Kiera." she then said before turning back to her office.

Kara let out a nervous chuckle and a nod as a response and Cat watched her practically ran towards the elevators to be with her family.

Looks like things were only about to get more interesting.

* * *

 

"I have to admit, I've never seen a kid chomp down three orders of potsticker in record time." Kate commented as she stared in awe of Laura who was sitting right next to her. The three year old seemed to be content and in her own little world at the moment, enjoying her lunch with her mommies and her very own Aunt Kate.

And on that note, Kate tried so hard to stop herself from chuckling at the joke in her end.  _Wow, this kid's going to have a lot of aunts…_

Lena seemed to have noticed Kate's amusement and shot her a curios look from across the table. Kara, on the other hand, simply looked back and forth between the two, clueless at the silent conversation going on.

But that's just how it was really, Kate and Lena have known each other for ages. It's just like how Alex and Kara were.

"Get those thoughts on being the  _fun_  gay aunt out of your head. If not, you're not seeing Laura until she's in her twenties." Lena then said and Kate chuckled.

"Oh come one Lee, Kate couldn't have been that bad." Kara then said, turning to look at Lena who was sitting next to her, just as she managed to scarf down her own five orders of potstickers. "I mean all those rumors were just that, right?" she commented, hinting at the fact that the drunken socialite act was just that. An act.

However, that wasn't exactly the case and Kate knew that only too well.

Lena too.

"Oh, a good half is true." she then admitted.

"Not anymore I hope. You've been disappearing on me again." Lena then chastised her.

"I've been busy." Kate replied with a yawn. She did only have about two hours of sleep since she landed in National City and after her rather busy week of crime fighting back at Gotham.

Well, she did stop for a while to read Catco's latest edition, featuring the article Cat Grant personally wrote on Lena, her relationship with Kara, her role as one of Laura's mom's, and the CEO of L-Corp, juggling it all. There was also that whole thing about Supergirl's piece in all of this which Lena quickly explained that there really wasn't anything to it, just National City's hero doing her job, and the fact that she threw the question back to Cat Grant, noting that Supergirl visited her balcony to check in on her quite a lot as well was just the cherry on top. It was the finest piece she's ever seen. Cat might have actually done a better job in portraying Lena in her articles than Kara ever did, all while painting Supergirl as the friendly hero on the look out to for the city's most attacked residents, but then again she's the veteran here.

"Busy with what?" Kara asked. "You promised you'd visit often. You haven't visited in four months, and the last I saw you was when you helped  _us_ out." she went on, hinting on the major A.G.E.N.D.A. bust that had happened about a month or two ago. Like Cadmus' fate, A.G.E.N.D.A. was shut down, but not without Match – that's what they decided to call Conner's rather brutish clone – having dealt some serious damage and escaped, wounded but alive, with Amanda Spencer, one of the leaders of the villainous group and Westfield's daughter. Kate's been busy lately chasing down leads on where they were all while balancing her Batwoman responsibilities. This then led into asking favors from other vigilante friends and helping them out in return too. So yeah, she's been tired and beat up a few times over that she was actually glad to be back in her second home, National City.

"Laura's quickly booting you down the list of her favorite aunts because of it." Kara then added and Kate had a concerned look on her face.

"Oh no, we can't let that happen!" Kate then said before turning to Laura who looked up in surprise to her rather dramatic reaction. "So Laura, tell me what I have to do to make it up? Ice cream? Toys? I can get you a fitting pair for Lena's old Mr. Cuddles. Seriously, tell me whatever you want, kid, and you shall have it. Cars, gadgets and all."

"Katherine Rebecca Kane!" Lena then said with feign indignation, knowing full well that the last list of items were a joke. Truth be told Kate was already trying to come up with helpful gadgets in case Laura grows up a little too much like her mommies, wanting to save the world and all, so that she could get her – and possibly some of Bruce's people – to work already.

Laura beamed up at her and jumped excitedly in her seat that Lena had to quickly act and remind her that she has to behave like mama when in public, reigning in her powers and not putting it on display. Laura quickly nodded and calmed down, projecting her best normal three year old self.

Because Laura _was_ smart – she most certainly is, considering she was pretty fluent in Kyrptonese, English, French, and lately mastering German despite talking like a three year old – and she can even often handle things herself – eating, for example, albeit mostly just with her hands for now because they soon learned that she has tendencies of crushing utensils with her hand if she's using two at a time. Besides, letting her eat with her hands minimized damages by the end of the day. That said, whenever she gets excited, powers come in full display too. Powers that she most certainly has yet to control.

Kate had to admire it really, Laura was back to being all prim and proper, biting into another piece of potsticker and minding her own business with the tablet filled with learning games that Winn had given her.

Kara simply smiled and shook her head with the whole thing before turning her attention back to Kate. "But seriously, where have you been? If we haven't ran into you this morning we wouldn't even be having lunch now."

Kate shrugged in respond to Kara's question. "Here, there, and everywhere really. I'm sorry I can't be here every other month as I originally promised."

"Yes, but you have a phone. Use it once in a while." Lena then said firmly and Kate nodded. "I did read an interesting article online about you – "

" _You_ did?" Kara interjected looking at Lena amused. "Lee, you have multiple board meetings this month and you're personally heading plans for the renovation of the science wing at National City University. When did you have time to look at gossip sites?"

"Fine, Jess might have noted that she saw some tweet about Kate and let me read it." Lena then admitted.

Kate shook her head and cut in before Lena could go on. "She  _did_  look up gossip sites before, you know? When she was keeping track of me during my lost party girl days."

"It was sadly the fastest way of deducing your location." Lena then pointed out. "If your cop of an ex-girlfriend didn't find you first that is. And speaking of –" she went on.

"Wait, you read something about Maggie?" Kara asked confused, cutting in with what Lena was about to say.

But Kate simply shook her head. "No." she verbally replied. "If it was that stolen shot of me talking with Montoya then that was work related. I needed her help on something and she needed mine."

"Sure." Lena then said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Kate. "Keep saying that."

"Wait, who on earth is Montoya?" Kara asked again, trying to catch up as she shot a look at Lena, and then at Kate, and then even at Laura who had briefly looked up to notice her mama's confusion before she shook her head and went back to doing her own thing.

"Just… no one…" Kate then replied with her best poker face.

"Only her on-again-off-again lady love for a good few years." Lena then teased. "That said, you surely have a thing for cops, don't you?"

And my have the tables have turned, not that it was exactly the same situation then.

Back when Kate was the one who enjoyed teasing Lena, getting her to fight for the feelings she had for Kara, pushing her to be happy, have that happiness she deserved.

The happiness the two of them now had.

And now, it seemed that Lena very much wants to do the exact same thing.

"Okay, I need more details than that." Kara then said, and for a brief moment Kate found herself with an epic stare down with Lena. Kara, having had enough of the silence, pulled out her phone and pulled up her contacts. "Fine, if neither of you are giving me answers, I'll call Maggie. Maybe she and Alex can join us for ice cream."

Laura perked up at the mention of ice cream, distracting Kate for a moment as she turned her attention to the little girl. It was the perfect time for Lena to urge Kara on of course and actually call Maggie and keep true to the promise of dessert together,  _those two conniving devils…_

… _although if you never got tangled in the middle of their respective love stories, this wouldn't be happening to you right now_ , Kate thought.

_Somehow I blame Bruce for this, sending me here in the first place…_

_..._ _this must be his revenge plot from all the times I stole his dates..._

"Well now you have to talk, because Maggie's rather amused and I have a feeling she'll make this hard for you when they get here. Alex too." Kara then said matter-of-factly.

Kate shook her head and resigned to her fate.

The past year has been a tiring chase filled with tears, heartbreaks, and many scrapes and bruises.

It was supposed to be just another mission, her way of helping her friends and making it up to Lena.

It was supposed to be temporary, staying at National City.

But she didn't expect to find another family here, not that she didn't have that back in Gotham. No, on the contrary, she did have that too. And the cracks that her past had made to the image of the family she once had and lost were mending too.

Now, she was free, she was growing.

And for the first time she realized, she didn't feel alive  _only_  when she was Batwoman anymore.

And it was all because of the mission that ended up giving Lena and Kara their little Laura, a mission that brought those two together, that had her meet Alex and helped her stay in touch with Maggie and J'onn.

For once, Kate thought, she could perhaps also live in the light for a little.

* * *

 

Most days were quiet.

They simply had the usual lull of trouble that Kara seemed to handle perfectly well. Once in a while they would get the usual few day struggle caused by one of Kara's very own colorful rogues. Two weeks ago, they had Livewire hunting down Cat Grant again. A month ago was the persistent trouble caused by the Silver Banshee. There was a bit of misadventure in mischief caused by a Mr. Mxyzptlk too. But other than the threat that A.G.E.N.D.A. posed, nothing too insane or serious like the Blight or the constant Cadmus monster of the week they had experienced in the past.

And in truth, the A.G.E.N.D.A. problem was close to being taken care of. Kon and his friends are currently tracking down Match and Amanda Spence and for the most part, Superboy has been quite helpful during his visits to National City.

Even Jeremiah's condition was becoming better. Alex and Eliza, with the help of Dubbilex too, have recently found a good game plan for his surgery needs and immediate aftercare. Jeremiah most definitely have a long road to recovery, but J'onn was sure that he would make it through. As for Dubbilex, he was most certainly a newly found valued member of the DEO. He's been travelling between bases, helping establish a better system with helping aliens adjust to earth, from their medical needs to understanding the effects of some of earth's most potent stimuli on them. From the sun and air to substances consumed to aid them better transition to life here. He's also finding a way to deprogram or at least put Match into a deep sleep once they catch him. His been a wonderful ally for sure.

M'gann was too. J'onn didn't even know where to begin. He never thought he'd fall for a White Martian, much less befriend one, but he did. She was there, always there whenever he needed her, and most especially when he was too stubborn to admit that he did.

He wasn't like Kara, open and trusting and understanding of people and their situations. He was more like Kal with his prejudices when it comes to supposed sworn nemesis and all.

But maybe every hero needed to be like Kara that way.

Because if he didn't snap out of his own prejudices and grudges, he would never see what was in front of him.

And he most certainly misses her now. M'gann had left a month ago to find others like her, White Martians who defected from their ranks, those who believed that what they were doing to the Green Martians were wrong, all so that they could start over. Be able to live in a world where they could be at peace. J'onn very nearly left with her, but he has a family here on earth he needed to look after. And look after he will.

M'gann did promise to return soon, and with her link with J'onn, he knew that those were words she would keep true.

J'onn was mostly just enjoying the quiet Saturday morning he was having. Due to the hazards that accompany raising a three year old with Kryptonian abilities, Kara decided to start training Laura a little bit just so that she would get a better handle with holding her powers back a little. J'onn had agreed to help her out and had been waiting for Kara, Lena, and Laura's arrival at the DEO with Winn and James. Winn was tinkering with a few things he could make to help Laura with her training while James was basically just there for support and the plan of getting some training done himself.

"Not here yet?" Alex asked, stepping into the command center, from the looks of it she was hard at work in the lab where they kept Jeremiah again, what with the lab coat she forgot to remove and the glasses on her face. Maggie was close behind and J'onn knew, even without reading what was in her mind, the reason Alex had stepped out from her work was because Maggie could see she needed a break. It was her returning the favor to all the nights that Alex would drag her out to play pool too. They were a good team that way.

"Oh, we're here. Kara's stopping some car thief two blocks away." Lena replied walking towards them, holding Laura's hand as the three year old walked alongside her with a skip in every step. J'onn looked at Laura with a smile, she was truly quite the young girl, one peak in her mind and he could see nothing but love and happiness, and the warmth of brighter days.

She was hope, just like Kara.

And just like Lena too.

A precocious young girl who sees nothing but the best out of the future.

Alex chuckled at Lena's comment as she rushed to greet her niece. Winn stopped what he was doing too as he turned his attention to the little girl who gave Alex a hug before running past her and rushing towards Winn.

See, it doesn't matter how many favorite Aunts or Uncles Laura had, her favorite person other than Lena and Kara was Winn, and it wouldn't take a genius to guess why.

"Sorry I'm late." Kara then said as she made her way towards her group of friends, family really, in full Supergirl outfit. Laura looked at her with awe and J'onn knew, with that look alone, what Laura aspires to become.

That is to say, other than being in charge of L-Corp one day because the only other time she's seen Laura have that look of awe is when Lena takes command of a situation.

And J'onn smiled to himself, the future was truly looking bright.

But just as he thought of that, a loud warping sound appeared by the lobby, a portal took shape and out of it was a bright streak of red zooming through the agents and abruptly stopping, like lightning having struck the ground, just a few steps away from where they stood in the command center.

The Flash looked slightly out of breath in his suit, looking like he jumped right out of the action from his earth. A strange metallic device was on his chest, a circle in the middle surrounding his insignia.

"Hey guys, I hope I'm not interrupting much." Barry then said in his usual quirky uncertain way.

"Mr. Allen, we weren't expecting you. I'm guessing serious trouble is brewing from your side?" J'onn asked with his usual commanding voice. If he had to traverse worlds in the multiverse then this was definitely a big situation. "I hope you're not here to tell us you're about the collapse of the multiverse."

"No, nothing like that... just yet..." Barry said as innocently as he can. "But I do need your help." he admitted.

J'onn took a deep breath and sighed.

So much for the quiet days.

* * *

 

"Alex, why are you in a lab coat?" Barry the asked, suddenly being distracted by Alex's seemingly unusual get up.

Well, at least for him.

"Because I've been working in the lab." she replied, stating the obvious. "I've been working on something to help my dad and besides, Winn's still fixing the damages on my exosuit."

"Which should be done in like a week. I just need to replace a part in the power core." Winn interjected in his defense, all while having his attention fixed on Laura. Alex simply smiled, she may still be keeping up with her training while working in the lab but she wasn't exactly in a rush to do some major super-heroics. There was something very alluring about the peace and quiet that they've had the past six months.

When she looked back she saw Barry look incredibly happy and surprised. "You found Jeremiah! That's great news then! And Cadmus?" he then asked.

"All taken care of." everyone mumbled in their own way as a reply. 

Barry looked like he was about to say something with the piece of great news when he suddenly looked rather distracted. Alex shifted her gaze to the direction he was looking at to realize that Laura was staring right back at him with great curiosity. Laura flew up and away from Winn who in turn tried to get her back before falling back to his seat for not being quick enough.

Laura hovered the distance between Winn's chair and where Kara stood. She immediately wrapped her hands around her mama and nested her chin on her shoulder, attaching herself from behind, still looking at Barry with such an intensity.

"Who's that mama?" she asked, turning to look at Kara.

"Just one of mama and mommy's friends." Kara replied with a light smile.

And to say that Barry's jaw nearly dropped and hit the floor would be an understatement. "Ma- did she just say mama? And mommy? Wait, wait, wait… hold up. She's… how… I'm guessing you two are the moms." Barry processed out loud, pointing to Lena and Kara who nodded to reaffirm his guess. "How long have we been gone? Am I even in the right place? I mean time?" he rambled on.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle with his reaction to the news, although that might have been their bad. They've all been so busy that they haven't exactly stayed in touch, at least since Christmas. Lena and Kara had Laura to take care of and the need to balance their jobs and extra activities with the DEO. Maggie was buried with work – what with the aftermath of all the happened – and apparently keeping Alex on the right track of not losing herself with her own work. Alex was just doing the same thing, making sure that Maggie wasn't working too hard and working on bringing back his father to his old self, sort of.

"It's been six months Allen." Maggie pointed out, walking up closer to Alex to wrap her arms around her waist and lean closer. Alex hummed her approval for contact – because, as Winn often teased, they were like teenagers who constantly needed to be next to each other – before breaking into laughter as Barry looked stumped trying to figure out why on earth Kara and Lena had a three your old.

"Bu-bu- what? How?" was all that Barry could say as he watched Laura floating up to him to get a better look of the Scarlet Speedster.

Alex was about to volunteer to explain everything to poor ol' Barry when she caught a glimpse of Kon-El, Conner, landing on the balcony in his usual jeans and black shirt get up, the red lines making up the symbol of the House of El on his chest.

"Conner, we weren't expecting you." she noted as the teenage Super sped up to where they were standing.

"Yeah, Tim needed something from Kate so I thought I might tag along for a visit. Turns out Kate needed something from Tim as well and they're currently bonding in her crime lab, Bat family-style." Conner grumpily replied before noticing Barry – who he had never met – with Laura hovering too close.

Laura noted Conner's presence before she excitedly flew over to him and gave him a little bear hug. "Connie!"

But Conner ignored the nickname only Laura could get away with calling him and focused his attention to the perceived threat that was the unknown costumed Barry. His irises flared red. "Who are you?" he asked rather protectively.

"Don't worry Kon, he's a friend visiting from far away." Kara immediately said to calm him down.

Barry was starting to look all the more lost as he looked at everyone, waiting for anyone to explain.

James gave out chuckle and volunteered, "Hey man, remember Project 13?"

"Y-yeah." Barry replied, wondering where this was all going.

Conner huffed and let his guard down. "Yeah, that would be me." he replied.

"Superman's son?" Barry asked as he tried to piece everything together, his eyes darting between him, Laura, Kara, and Lena.

Alex chuckled. "More like his clone with some  _other guy_." she explained as she soon found out that Lex being his other genetic source was a very touchy subject for Conner.

"Other guy?" Barry asked, looking all the more confused.

"My brother." Lena simply provided as an answer, exchanging a look with Conner.

"Mhmm." was all that Barry could give as a reply after that revelation.

"So what's the sitch, Flash? Savitar?" Kara then asked, quickly changing the topic.

Barry seemed to have snapped out of it with that question. "Uh, no. I mean, that was rather traumatic but taken care of. It's something much worse."

"What's worse than a speed god?" Alex the asked despite knowing and having seen things she would personally categorize as much worse than a speed god despite not having seen Savitar herself.

"Ah, well, to make a long story short, a legion of supervillains." The Flash then replied before he heaved a deep sigh. "Here's the thing, Sara and the Legends were dealing with the Legion of Doom which was basically made up of the guy who killed our world's Laurel Lance, Thea's evil dad, for some brief point one of my rogues who's not really this bad guy, and a past version of my time travelling nemesis who hasn't exactly ruined my life in his point of time travelling escapades. They re-wrote the present for personal reasons, you know, and then the Legends set it back to being right by breaking a few rules and well…"

"I'm guessing you're on the  _brink_  of possibly collapsing the multiverse?" J'onn.

"We stopped time-travelling on our end but my said nemesis most definitely hasn't." Barry then replied sounding incredibly frustrated. Alex could tell that he wanted to do something, anything, to stop their enemies but he couldn't. Technically he could but he's afraid of messing things up.

And Alex only knew too well what the feeling was like.

If she had missed or miscalculated back then…

…but those were days long gone now.

"He wants to stay alive, to still exist despite his ancestor erasing himself in our timeline so that he never will be. But the thing is, at what cost? I think I learned that lesson the hard way. And now he's even recruited some zombie guy calling himself Grundy, a psychic gorilla – one of my rogues – with the addition of the others he recruited before and I think the last time we encountered them he was trying to contact Brainiac, but most definitely not the Brainy of the future that Winn met, because, well, it's not yet the future and he has this giant floating fortress of doom thing hovering above Central City right now with a bunch in other cities with waves upon waves of evil robots being sent to destroy us, so to speak." Barry then further explained.

"Say no more then, Barry, you have my help." Supergirl immediately said, walking towards Barry without a second thought.

"Kara." Alex and Lena then chorused to call her back. Alex glanced at Lena who nodded, allowing her to speak first. "This time you're not just going to go jump head first into danger without knowing what you're getting yourself into. What happens if you disappear for another two weeks and we need Supergirl? Hmm? You're day job is going well, you have an amazing girlfriend, and a daughter too. We need a concrete plan."

"Okay, first of all, if I'm not back by then, I have faith in you guys. Besides, if Kon isn't busy, he can cover for me." Kara then said, sporting a grin at Kon who simply sighed.

And at first Alex thought that he was just truly being mature here, thinking about how Kara isn't even considering about the long term effects of here absence. That it wouldn't be just her and Lena who would worry. But then Conner spoke up and said, "I guess that means I can't come with you," sounding incredibly disappointed at the prospect of being left behind and Alex just had to sigh.

_What is it with these Supers and selfless recklessness?_

"I believe that wasn't what Alex was trying to point out Conner." Lena then articulated the words that were failing Alex at this moment as she contemplated on Kara's heroic self. "Love," Alex heard Lena go on, the CEO turning to look at Kara with a stern look on her face. "I know you, I know your tendencies and need to just pretty much save everyone. An evil version of someone who's a member of the Legion of Superheroes, as Winn calls them, doesn't exactly sound like an easy enemy to deal with. An entire group of superheroes from a different earth had to help us deal with some Cadmus' antics and the Blight and you're telling me you're going alone?"

"I mean, we don't exactly have kryptonite on our earth. At least that I know of." Barry interjected. "At worst, not including Brainiac, we have, again I re-state, a psychic gorilla, an evil speedster, and someone who uses magic."

"Ah, then we have a problem there." J'onn then said. "Supergirl  _isn't_  impervious to magic."

"That settles it, I'm going." Lena then announced.

"Lena, you can't. Who's going to take care of Laura?" Kara argued.

"Ah, Supergirl, you have the entirety of the DEO to volunteer as tribute for that. Everyone  _adores_  Laura." Maggie pointed out. "I'm here, and Alex, and Winn, and James, and Kate. The list goes on."

"Well then, how about L-Corp?" Kara went on.

"Alex can be acting CEO. I trust her." Lena simply said.

"Yeah, that's ri- hang on. You want me to what?!" Alex then said in shock with Lena's suggestion.

"I'd say Winn, but he might turn my office into gamer nirvana if we're gone too long." she argued.

"She might have a point there." Winn interjected.

"No, it can't be Alex." J'onn simply stated. "She's gonna be acting director because I'm most definitely going with Supergirl. I'm thinking Earth-1 might need a Martian along with a Kryptonian."

"Okay, how about people stop volunteering 'Alex' to take care and be in charge of everything for a sec." Alex then said, calling herself by her name. "If Kara is going then there is no way in hell I'm not going. I'm not leaving my sister behind, or in this case I'm not letting her walk away to some uncertain faith."

Because no, she's not letting Kara leave just like that.

Where her sister goes, she goes. She'll always have her back.

"Alex, you can't." Maggie then pointed. "You're working on that  _thing_ \- I forget what you call it - with Dubbilex. We know that no matter how many of us here to take care of Laura, she listens to you the most next to her mothers. And quite frankly, there's the truth the city might burn down if the super heroics are left to the tin man, the guy in the chair, and Metropolis kid over here."

"I live in Smallville, technically speaking." Conner then interjected as Winn and James feigned indignation at Maggie's remarks.

It was true though. Not that the boys were irresponsible, just, they got out of hand sometimes.

And Maggie did have a point.

"Hang on, I'm agreeing to J'onn coming, but I haven't agreed to Lena –" Kara then said, sounding a little worried and protective of her girlfriend before being cut off by Lena.

"I don't need your permission, darling." she said. "Besides, Kara, we've talked about  _this_. I can still be valuable help over there, for one thing. And I'm most definitely not going to let that flirty assassin get her way with you or that brutish arsonist call you skirt." Lena went on, her tone sounding a little jealous. "Not to mention that someone needs to make sure you stay grounded and not just go off to face some death-defying battle without reminding you of what you might stand to lose!"

Alex smiled as she listened to Lena's impassioned speech.  _Ah, there it is_ , she thought to herself, the reason why getting along with Lena had been so easy, Cadmus and crazy family histories aside.

It was because she's met someone who cared and loved Kara just as much as she did.

Someone who would always also have her back. Someone whose judgement or character she won't even question, whatever their family name is.

Because Lena had unwavering conviction. And Alex knew, she would always, always fight for Kara and risk everything to make sure that she's okay.

True, Supergirl may be the one who keeps saving Lena and Kara might be Lena's hero, but Lena's the one who saves her sister when she's too busy saving everyone else.

And while Alex might not exactly be sure if Kara knew this or not, she did know that a part of her understood this to be true.

"We have a half Kryptonian child, Kara. I need you by my side, and I'll make sure you do so personally." Lena then added.

And Kara simply smiled in response and nodded.

"You know, even if she does go gallivanting around the multiverse, you do have us. Maggie's right." Alex then noted. "I've been through Kara's angsty teenage phase. It lasted by like a month but I handled it pretty well."

"Alex, I know, and I adore you, but do you even know how to potty train a Kryptonian toddler?" Lena then asked with a chuckle.

And all of a sudden, images that Alex never wanted to witness in real life ever flashed in her mind. If Laura heat-visions her plate just because of broccoli then she could only really imagine the worst,. "Yeah, Lena's coming with you sis. We need you back here as soon as you can come back."

"Um, not to interrupt the familial banter, but we have wasted a good amount of time with catching up and we do have a crisis to deal with." Barry then said, reminding everyone of his presence.

"Yes. You have me, J'onn, and my genius girlfriend at your service Barry." Kara then said.

Alex held Laura in her arms as they watched Kara, J'onn, and Lena leave with Barry. Winn made a quick trip to grab the device that Cisco had given Kara, believing that this may be the faster way to travel to get to Barry's earth as his tachyon device was mostly just for one person's use. It was easier to build, Barry had explained, than the device that Cisco made, at least for the short time they had to prepare for sending Barry as their SOS. Apparently Ray and Earth-3 Harrison Wells built the device as Cisco was heavily injured in the fights they had so far and S.T.A.R. Labs was currently in ruins after what Barry's nemesis, the Reverse Flash, was done with it.

"Don't worry, L, they'll be back soon." Alex then whispered, pressing a kiss on her golden crown as she pouted, watching her mommies leave.

Laura simply nodded before flying away from Alex and towards Winn who was standing next to her.

"Would you like to play some games with Uncle Winn?" he asked with a grin on his face. "Let's check on Conner and see what he's up to with Uncle Jimmy, how about it?"

Laura once again simply nodded. It was clear to Alex that she was already missing both Kara and Lena.

Alex sighed, watching the remnants of the portal completely disappear before her eyes. A part of her was still in her usual overprotective sister mode, worried about what Kara might face in Earth-1 without her. She wanted to go, she really did. But knowing J'onn was with her, that Lena would keep her grounded, it helped ease her feelings a bit.

Besides, it's not like Kara's fully unconscious, being whisked into Earth-1 and into some uncertain fate. She was in her full Supergirl mode. And she was, admittedly, stronger than she ever was.

Alex heard Maggie chuckle to her side as she felt her girlfriend's eyes on her. She looked over just as Maggie bumped their shoulders together. "I guess we know who's the most super of them all."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked confused.

"Well, we already know that Kara idolizes her big sister and that Laura's not throwing a tantrum that Kara had to break her promise of training with her today because you're here."

"And Conner." Alex said, interrupting Maggie.

"Yeah, sure." Maggie then replied. "But who is it that Lena Luthor, unshakable CEO of multi-billion company who practically eats death threats for breakfast because she's a Luthor, turns to and trusts the most when it comes to Laura and L-Corp? Who is it that J'onn entrusts the responsibilities of keeping an eye out for the welfare of the world and take charge? Hmm?"

"Are you saying that  _I'm_ the most super of them all? Out of genius billionaire, Green Martian, and Kryptonian?" Alex asked sounding amused. "I don't know, Maggie, I'm pretty sure there's this brown eyed detective with a killer smile that can always make me weak in the knees and the power to break my heart." she added, her eyes looking deeply back into Maggie's.

Alex was teasing, sure, but she was also telling the truth.

She should have known really, way back since the first day they met. She felt it. Maggie Sawyer had some kind of power over her and to this day Alex could never believe her luck how she got so lucky to have Maggie in her life.

For the most part, she balances the crazy, insane, totally science fiction-y ruling part of it.

"You know, you can be pretty cheesy when you want to." Maggie noted, leaning in closer for a quick kiss before they were interrupted by the loud sounds that was the DEO fire alarm.

Alex sighed. "Who do you think is the culprit?"

"I know we have two half Kryptonians here, but I think Winn." Maggie then noted.

"I think Winn too." Alex then replied before settling to kiss Maggie on the cheeks and storming off to the same direction that Winn disappeared to with Laura earlier.

Duty calls.

* * *

 

One lengthy lecture regarding the rules of lab safety and how Kryptonians should be kept away from anything flammable, especially when they are three years old with heat-vision, and Winn found herself in a conference room with Laura as they played scrabbles.

In his defense, he just wanted to show Laura something he was working on for her to use for training, some sort of material for an outfit more durable than her stealth suit at least. But then again, he was the one who urged Laura to test its durability with her heat-vision and well, really, he should have known that wasn't the wisest idea.

Alex was currently at the command center with Maggie, dealing with some minor case that popped up in the middle of that afternoon. Meanwhile, Conner went out with James to grab some pizza for them to munch on because yes, Laura was hungry, and yes, she has the same appetite as Kara.

And the same Kryptonian metabolism, apparently.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" Winn suddenly heard Lucy ask.

Which was weird because last time he heard, Lucy Lane got pulled into some crazy mission by the DEO and has been in some kind of deep undercover work immediately after the whole Cadmus thing.

But upon turning around in his seat, Winn thought that the mission was probably over because there she was, the one and only Lucy Lane.

"Hey."

"Hey to you too, Winn. Where is everyone? Alex is currently mandating a few agents but no signs of J'onn or Supergirl. For that matter, where's James? And who is that adorable little girl?" Lucy commented, immediately making her way to say hello to Laura.

But Laura was equally excited to meet a new face, which meant that Lucy halted just a few steps past Winn as she watched in shock as the three year old flew towards her for a closer inspection. "Winn, why is a three year old, who look so much like Kara might I add, flying towards me?"

"Um, that's because she's sorta', kinda' is Kara's daughter."

"But she's three Winn, I was gone for six months since the Cadmus thing." Lucy pointed out still looking at Laura who was staring right back at her with a huge grin on her face. "Besides, who's the other half? You know what I mean?"

"Hiya! I'm Laura!" she greeted.

"And I'm Lucy." she greeted back at the still hovering young girl.

"Winn?" Lucy then prompted as she watched Laura happily land on top of the table, still looking up at Lucy, examining her.

"Lena." Winn provided as an answer.

"As in Luthor?" Lucy asked for clarification, sounding a little shocked and a whole lot of confused.

"Yep." Winn replied. "Oh right, forgot you don't know they're dating."

"I'm sorry, what?" Lucy then asked, still processing everything.

"How have we not brought you up to speed with things? Especially with their relationship a hot topic in social media and all, that must really be some deep undercover work you did there." Winn then said, mostly to himself as he shook his head. "Yep, that's it. It's because you're always busy on some dangerous mission in God knows where – because seriously, I tried hacking the files and they're all retracted – see that's what happens when you don't visit as often as you could. But back to our Luvers? Karlena? Supercorp? We're still debating on the ship name, by the way, online people too – do you know there is a ship name wars online for people who ship Lena with Supergirl and the separate group who ship her with Kara? They're like the hottest topic-slash-it couple right now… I'm surprised no one else has pieced together that Kara is Supergirl with all the buzz really… but anyways, we're actually teasing them to get married already. Clark said he can perform a Kryptonian ceremony at the fortress and J'onn volunteered for a more human one but those two seem to be taking their time." Winn rambled on. There was just so much to catch Lucy up with that he's not sure where to start.

"Winn, first of all, shut up and restart but this time slow down. This is kinda hard to process." Lucy then noted just as Laura busied herself with the scrabble board, starting to spell a few Kryptonian words having lost interest with what Winn and Lucy were doing that did not involve her. "I'm missing something here. Are you telling me that Lena Luthor has a love child with Kara Danvers? A Super and a Luthor with a little offspring that's three years old?"

"She's actually only one year old if you think about this, well, more like six months old, but yeah, physically she's three. And I guess maybe you can say that but that's not exactly how it all went down." Winn replied. 

Lucy stared back at him trying to piece things together. Yeah, there was no easy way of explaining this.

"Did no one ever tell you the details of Project 13 or 14?" Winn asked.

Lucy shook her head. "All we got as an explanation was that it's a need to know basis and we didn't need to know. How is that related to all this?"

"How about we start from the beginning so you get a better picture?" Winn then offered and Lucy nodded. "Well, really, this all started when Kate first came into town, although I suppose it may have even started earlier than that…"

* * *

 

As soon as they crossed into Earth-1, the teams assembled in Barry's little hall of superheroes – hall of justice? – wasted no time in catching Kara, Lena, and J'onn up with the situation at hand. A few introductions with new faces were thrown into the mix, but yeah, it was mostly straight to work.

J'onn and Kara immediately deduced that the Brainiac they were up against was similar to Brainiac 5, based on Winn's past descriptions, but he was more like Indigo in some ways. It was currently the dead of night, and a certain kind of lull has taken over the battle-worn heroes but they were still hard at work at figuring their enemies out. A female Flash from a different earth, someone who Barry would refer to as Jesse Quick, most of Ollie's vigilante trainees, and Mick Rory had joined Cisco in the 'injured list'. Like all heroes, they had argued that they can still fight but Ollie was strict about them resting. Luckily the technology in the  _Wave Rider_  was keeping them stable and alive and well, with Heatwave and Vibe being the ones with the most pressing serious injuries to deal with.

Kara took a deep breath and sighed as Felicity caught them up. Was she tired? Yes. But she never gets sick of being Supergirl. It was funny how she was just finally getting the hang of balancing her day job, her love life, motherhood with Laura, and her superhero gig and then all of a sudden she gets thrown out of the loop again with the need to avert some kind of crisis.

On most days, Kara thinks that this was just how her life was going to be like from now on. Truth be told, this was where her life was headed anyways ever since she put on that 'S' on her chest and that cape on her back. She'd say that that was when her life had changed, but life kept on constantly changing anyways. And she could think up of so many moments similar to that, from her aunt Astra getting imprisoned, to her planet dying, to meeting Lena, to having Laura, life kept on changing. It was really more like when she felt that her life truly begun.

They have only finished the briefing when Lyla, John's wife, alerted them of an attack in Star City by Brainiac's forces while Gorilla Grodd was simultaneously unleashing his own army in Central City.

"Duty calls." Lena said, walking up to Kara with that uncertain smile that she puts on every time she knew that Kara was about to fly into the waiting arms of danger.

Kara would be lying if she said she never felt fear each time she did. She would be lying if she said that the thought of being bulletproof, of being as powerful as she was stopped her from being afraid, because she was. There's always that tiny jolt of fear every time, a fear she squashes and faces with all she's got because she reminds herself of what she's fighting for.

Except this time, the tiny jolt of fear was stronger. Because this time Kara has  _everything_ to lose. But she always carried it in her heart, the silent promise that everything would be alright and Lena's belief in her words when she say it gave her all the strength she needed.

But  _Rao_ did she hate going. No, she didn't hate being Supergirl, she loved it, but she hated turning her back on Lena and leaving.

And Kara would try to remember all those scenes in movies that were all too heartbreaking for her, when the hero has to go on a journey and say goodbye to their loved ones, their fates uncertain. She would wonder why they would not just give it all up, let someone else go in their stead.

Yet here she was, knowing only too well why she can't do that.

People always think that it's hard to let go, to watch someone leave us behind. But Kara only knew too well the pain that came with leaving and just how much strength it sometimes took to take that one step forward.

Being Supergirl is a part of her, and she won't ever run away from that. Besides, every time she left, she only had to look forward to the sweet promise of returning to Lena's waiting arms.

Then, of course, there was the comforting knowledge that with Lena, she may be the one with superpowers but she's not the knight and Lena the damsel in distress. They will always be there for each other, saving each other.

And Kara knew that if she would fail to make it back to Lena, she wouldn't just stay waiting, she would look for her and fight for her as well.

The thought of it made leaving a little less painful. It made Kara want to make sure that she'll make it through whatever obstacle the universe, or in this case the multiverse, throws at her. No, she doesn't know what the future holds, possibly a whole lot more of villains and equally diabolical schemes as this one that are overtly too complicated, but who cares? She'll face whatever the world will throw her way as long as Lena's there.

As long as she has her home.

So sorry universe – or rather multiverse – but nothing can ever deter her from her mission nor will anything ever compare to what she's got with Lena.  _Rao_  help anyone who stands in her way.

Especially now that Kara has found the greatest super power of all.

Love – and, well, friendship too.

Kara smiled, that knowing smile that makes that silent promise of return. She leans in for a kiss, soft and sweet.

"Time to save the multi-verse, love." Lena then said with a smile as Kara pulls back. "Raise them hell and show that legion of supervillains what Supergirl is all about." she added. "Preferably before Laura's fourth birthday, because we're not going back to our earth because of this bad guys and their usual schemes and find out we've missed our daughter's birthday."

"We won't be here for six more months." Kara replied with a smile.

"You never know." Lena replied with a stern voice. "And the collapse of the multiverse as a consequence is not part of the plans either."

"No, definitely not." Kara replied sounding more formal. "I'll give them all I've got, I promise. So, up, up, and away?" Kara asked and Lena nodded.

"Up, up and away my Supergirl." Lena replied with wink.

And Kara flew up in the air, ready to join her friends off to a new adventure.

It was time to save the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to end it with Supergirl doing what she does best, off to save the day ;)
> 
> The follow-up for the fic (an epilogue story of sorts that is ~9-10 chapters) is already up! It's called 'The Adventures Continue'. There's fluff, a lot of it, a dash of adventure, and one plot connecting it all, sort of...
> 
> For now, thank you my lovely readers, you have been AWESOME. You make writing this fic even more fun than it already was.
> 
> This is the HypersomniacGrad signing out.


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